I’ve been waiting a long time to write this one. Certain sightings feel less like an encounter and more like a moment you’ve been waiting for without realising it.
This was one of those.
A confident and curious young leopard, that is nearing independence after a remarkable start to life alongside her resilient mother.
Not because the Tinxiya Female hasn’t been around, she has, but because there was a sighting that finally felt like the beginning of her story rather than just the introduction.
We found the Tinxiya Female along the Maxabene River early one morning. The sun had come bursting through the clouds, and we were in for a long, hot track. Following alarm calls that kept leapfrogging ahead of us, we knew she was on the move. So we kept searching, like her: moving but not hurried. Stopping. Listening. Around the corner we came, and there she was: in a jackalberry, high in the branches.
Then, without much ceremony, she climbed down.
And up again. Then across the riverbed, and up another tree. Down. Up.
It went on like this for some time. She must have climbed not less than 4 separate trees in less than 20 minutes. I could only chalk it up to youthful exploration. But there felt like this time there was something more. Purpose. The kind that tells you a leopard is no longer just passing through a place, but owning it. Making quiet assessments along the way.
Then she climbed into a strangler fig. A first for me!
Strangler figs are chaotic things. Roots braided around empty space, trunks full of hollows and shadows. They look as though they’ve grown by accident, yet they endure for centuries. I’ve long dreamed of seeing a leopard in this particual one, it feels like the sort of tree that should hold many secrets.
She moved through it effortlessly. Slipping between roots, pausing where the light fractured across her coat, sleeping draped in the branches. A sighting that felt less like the South African Lowveld and more like the lower Zambezi!
A young female stepping forward
Over the last few months, the Tinxiya Female has changed. And that, I think, says a lot about where she is in her life.
There’s a confidence to her now that wasn’t there before. We’ve seen her scent-marking regularly. We’ve heard her calling, too. These are not the behaviours of an independent youngster. They’re the signals of a leopard beginning to announce herself.
Her mother, the Three Rivers Female, has also shifted. Having recently been seen mating with the Maxims Male, she has clearly entered the next phase of her own story. When a dominant female does this, something else usually happens quietly alongside it: space is made.
Not abandoned. Not surrendered. But created. And daughters step into it.
Forced into early independence at 11 months. Despite her small size, she's proven resilient, currently raising a cub in SE Londolozi.
Looking ahead to 2026
We’ve been fortunate with the Tinxiya Female in 2025. Unbelievably so. Almost daily sightings, we’ve seen her play, we’ve seen her grow, and we’ve seen her first kill. And 2026 promises to be more of that and more.
Here, they paused for a moment, looking around in the surrounding clearings for their next target to hunt. The Young Female was almost copying her mother’s every move.
The Three Rivers Young Female carries her hard-earned meal to a different thicket for safekeeping
She is nearing the age at which females typically come into oestrus for the first time (24-36 months). With her mother no longer exerting the same influence over the territory, this will likely take place sometime soon. Often, only when a female has established herself fully over a territory will she give birth (closer to the 4-year mark).
Dominant since 2019. Once skittish Kruger-born giant now rules vast territory, transforming from elusive presence to formidable force.
This, however, naturally raises the question around the Maxim’s Male, who is not only still dominant in the area but also her father. With leopard dynamics, these situations are not uncommon. Females can possibly delay oestrus while a related male remains dominant, or simply avoid mating during his presence. Over time, territorial dynamics shift, and a new male will arrive. Having said this, it’s not uncommon, nor is it problematic for inbreeding to occur for a single generation within the population. More than this it may begin to present some issues.
Becoming, not arriving
That sighting in the strangler fig stays with me because it wasn’t dramatic. There was no kill. No confrontation. No moment designed to impress. Just a young female moving up and down trees, feeling her way through a riverbed she knows she’ll return to.
Some stories don’t begin with a roar. They begin with quiet confidence.And the Tinxiya female, it seems, is right on schedule.
What a lovely blog, Reagan. It speaks of your wonder, respect and sincere love for these beautiful quiet moments in the bush where an, perhaps undramtic, insight into a moment of an animal’s life becomes an unforgettable moment in time.
Thank you for sharing. Can’t wait for my April visit.
Oh what an absolutely wonderful blog with super, super pictures Keags, thank you for writing and publishing it.
I just love your description of the strangler fig! I’m so happy to see this young female is finding her place.
We sent a week at Londolozi Varty Camp with Reece last May and had the pleasure of many Leopard sightings.
These Photogrpahs are incredible and each one tells a different yet very beautiful story…thank you and keep them coming.
Thanks Keagan and hope to see many more in the future.
Regards Lana Ogilvie
Thank you Keagan, she really seems to be thriving. I was so happy to see her in November. I didn’t realise that sometimes a female will mate with their father – Xinkhova is in the same position, though presumably this hasn’t happened as she hasn’t become pregnant yet? I guess the other option is to travel outside Maxim’s territory, but as that is so large it wouldn’t be easy for her.
Wonderful photos, Keagan of this beautiful young leopard. This strangler fig is such an impressive tree and makes such a fairy tale like background for the beauty of the Tinxiya Female.
It’s so nice to be able to follow the story of a young leopard. I am looking forward to hearing more about her in the future.
Hi Kewgan, absolutely top story! She looks sweet… how wonderful the view of all those magnificent trees! She offered you and us this unmatched chance! So thank for this tale that seems fairy!
Dear Keagan, thanks for that nice blog, and the exceptional shots of that beautiful lepards
How wonderful! And amazing photos! Look forward to watching her story!
Hi Keagan, your story on the Tinxiya female is so special, it spells out the way that you see her in your safari outings. She is a gorgeous young female and it seems to me she knows exactly where she is going and what she is doing. Confidence is definitely growing in her.
What a perfect place to find the Tinxiya female – the Maxabene River bed. This place has long been a favorite of mine as it feels as though I’m going through a tunnel of trees, and it’s the perfect hideout for a resident leopard. I read your account of watching Tinxiya move from tree to tree as if sampling the view and comfort of the branches before settling into the strangler fig with my own wonder and awe of her move into independence. Your photos made your account even more special. Perhaps my next visit in April will allow me the opportunity to view her for my first time, perhaps on a branch overlooking the Maxabene River bed – that would be unforgettable.
A lovely, inspirational blog, Keagan. She has grown and matured right in front of you and must feel like a friend who’s turning the page on a new chapter. I wish her a long healthy life – and hope to see her again soon!
Hi LGR. It is such a great story to read about the nearly 2 yr old Tinxiya female, the beautiful independent daughter of the Three Rivers female and the massive Maxims male. If she won’t be mating until she’s 4 years old, then she’s got another 2 years to go, which is still quite a long way of. Although she’s bigger than her mother, she’s not a massively large female leopard, but I would say she’s a medium sized female. I don’t know what you think, but she might have a bit more growing to do before she’s reached her full size. As her mother, who will be 10 years old in April, was seen mating with the Maxim’s male a couple of weeks ago, it’ll be interesting to see if she’ll raise her next new litter fully intact. It will be nice if that is the case, but the Three Rivers female will just have to rely on luck.
I think the young female will be two years old in April, the same month as her mother. She might be a bit to young to be mating right now, but she is, nonetheless, still a beautiful female with a long way ahead in her lifetime so far.
As the time and years wear on, it’ll be very interesting to see which male she chooses to mate with to sire her first ever litter of cubs when the time is right. It remains to be seen how it will go and how raising cubs will play out for her.
It might seem a long way of for her at the moment currently, but I hope she’ll be just as successful at raising cubs as her mother. Been a granddaughter of the late Kikilezi female, it is and will be down to her, her mum, and her older twin aunts in the form of the Piccadilly and Sibuye females to continue the Kikilezi female’s dynasty, coming up 9 years after she was tragically killed by the 2 Southern Avoca male lions in May of 2017 aged 15 years and 7 months old. So, I hope the Timxiya female will be able to raise several litters of cubs all the way to independence successfully. But I’m sure she’ll be kept an eye on and watched frequently to see how she will progress and fare in the weeks, months and years that are to come and go. Let’s hope she leads a long & prospous life.
Hope to hear from you shortly.
Robert 15.1.26
So beautiful. To me the feeling is what makes any sighting special. It’s impressive when you know an individual well enough to feel a certain change in their life stage. It tells me how invested you are and reveals that Londolozi is still quite on track