The Ximungwe Female has been one of the most viewed leopards at Londolozi since her birth back in 2015. Through the years, she has shown us how much of an incredible mother she can be. Providing some truly unforgettable sightings over the years. Sadly, the cub featured in my last blog about her didn’t make it, a reminder, as always, that the bush offers no guarantees. But life moves forward, and so did she. As you are all aware, the Ximungwe Female has a new cub, now around four months old, and the search to find it has become something of a mission for our guiding team.
That might sound disheartening, but to be honest its half of the fun and makes the reward of viewing and habituating it that much sweeter.
At Londolozi, the habituation of leopard cubs is something we take seriously. When a cub is young, those early encounters with game drive vehicles are critical. The more a young leopard sees Land Rovers during its formative months, the more it learns that we pose no threat. Over time, that familiarity is what allows a cub to grow into the kind of relaxed, viewable adult that Londolozi leopards are famous for. Miss that window, and you risk ending up with a more skittish adult. We’ve seen it happen before, and it’s not a fate we want for this cub.
The Ximungwe Female and her previous cub
The Ximungwe Female, despite having a territory in the heart of Londolozi, has a habit of disappearing when she has young cubs. We’ve seen it before with the Ntomi Male, her last cub she raised to independence. She shifts into a different mode entirely, avoiding the open crests, where she usually does majority of her hunting, moving closer to the drainages in her territory that are more secluded, perfect for raising a cub. Its this behaviour that has allowed her to raise two cubs to independence.
But it does make our job harder.
Over the past two weeks, I have had guests very interested in the Ximungwe Female so as you can imagine, we’ve focused a lot of our time on her and her cub. We knew it was going to be an uphill battle but one we were all keen on and enjoyed every moment of it. Although we saw the Ximungwe female quite a few times by herself, the one sighting the cub was fleeting, a brief glimpse of the cub bounding through the thickets before vanishing. Enough to confirm it exists, not nearly enough to call it habituated.
So the search continues.
There’s something extremely enjoyable about putting the pieces together like this. Every morning, we head out with purpose. Every track of the Ximungwe female and every alarm call in her territory, we believe our time is now to find this cub but the bush has a way of keeping you honest. This is what makes the moment when the cub does finally relax so much better.
We’ll find this cub. The Ximungwe Female will eventually allow us to spend time with her extremely special offspring.
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on The Search Continues