We followed the Shingi Male into the last of the light the evening before. He was kind of moving with purpose, a somewhat deliberate walk as though he was looking for something to eat at times, then within moments it would shift it what looked as though he was just out and about exploring. Nothing came of it while we were there, so eventually we left him to it and headed back to camp. A young male out hunting at dusk. Ordinary enough.
Following the Shingi Male around was such a treat on a recent afternoon game drive. He snuck up this mound to scan for any unsuspecting impalas. I chose to go behind him and get a silhouetted shot. Although it is a rather busy horizon, I think it works well with him looking off to the left in a gap between the bushes.
The last surviving cub of a litter of three, he is on the cusp of independence.
The next morning, a few of the rangers went back into the same area to see what had become of him. They found him quickly, up in a schotia with a carcass hoisted into the fork of the tree. Again, ordinary. Leopards hoist their kills to keep them out of reach of hyenas and lions. Except this time the carcass stopped everyone in their tracks. It was a young aardvark.
Image from a guest which shows the detail of the claws of an Aardvark.
If you have spent any time out here, you will know how rarely that happens. Aardvarks are creatures of the night and the underground. They spend their days sealed inside burrows that can run thirteen metres long, and they only surface once the sun is gone, nose down, working around, seeking out any ants and termites in the dark. A leopard does most of its hunting at night too, but the paths of the two seldom cross in a way that ends badly for the aardvark. When one is threatened, it either vanishes down a hole or rolls onto its back and goes to work with a set of claws built for moving earth. They are not an easy meal, and they are not a common one. In all my years out here, I have only ever seen an aardvark kill once before, and that was the Othawa Male lion feeding on one back in 2020.
To have one now hoisted in a tree, in broad daylight, was the kind of sighting you drop everything for.
Which is exactly what I could not do.
By the time I heard about it, there were already three vehicles in the sighting and two more sitting, waiting for a space to open up. I accepted my place at the back of the queue. And with a morning’s worth of work stacking up back at camp after yet another long search for the Nkoveni Female’s den, I could not sit and wait my turn. So I did the sensible, responsible, deeply unsatisfying thing and carried on with my day.
Then the radio told me the Ximungwe Female had arrived at the carcass.
Two leopards. On an aardvark. If the first bit of news was hard to walk away from, this was starting to feel personal.
Interestingly enough, after the Ximungwe Female arrived, she casually climbed up the tree and began feeding. The Shingi Male was unfazed by this.
Having been viewed by vehicles from an early age, this leopard is supremely relaxed around Land Rovers.
That afternoon I got back out on the drive with every intention of finally getting in there, and, of course, there was a full lineup waiting again. To pour a little petrol on my quietly smouldering mood, word came through that the Maxim’s Male had turned up as well. Three leopards all together. I have documented a lot of leopards over the years, and on the very odd occasion, I have had three of them together over a single carcass, let alone one this unusual. And there I was, somewhere off in the bush still hunting for a den I had yet to find.
A rather unique and different carcass to see a leopard feeding on, but this highlights just how adaptable and successful leopards can be.
So I did what you do. I built my own scenario in my mind of what was unfolding. First, the radio said the Ximungwe Female was up in the tree feeding.
Upon arriving on the scene, the Maxim’s Male chose the less confrontational route and settled in the grass as opposed to charging in to claim the carcass.
Dominant since 2019. Once skittish Kruger-born giant now rules vast territory, transforming from elusive presence to formidable force.
Then the Maxim’s Male arrived, and instead of doing what a big dominant male usually does, he lay down in the long grass and settled in to watch. A few moments later, the Shingi Male made his move. He got up, charged the tree, and went straight up after the Ximungwe Female while she was still on the carcass.
For some reason, the Shingi Male made the decision that he’d better charge into the tree to reclaim the carcass. I wonder if it was because now that the Maxim’s Male had arrived, he didn’t want to lose it to him.
The Ximungwe Female tried her luck with running further up the tree with the carcass, but was unsuccessful in holding on to the carcass.
The two of them had a squabble in the branches, and the Shingi Male came away with the prize, ripping the aardvark clean out of her mouth before hauling it up into the very top of the canopy. The Ximungwe Female took one look at how that had gone, leapt out of the tree, and walked off.
After grabbing the carcass, right out of the Ximungwe Female’s mouth, he bolted right up to the top of the tree.
The Ximungwe Female, not wanting to get caught in a potential scrap between the Maxim’s Male and the Shingi Male, made a swift exit from the tree.
Something phenomenal to note, is that after herd severe injury a while ago, it appears to be fully healed and is not hindering her at all.
It was a bold move, but the Shingi Male has form. He has stood his ground against the Maxim’s Male himself over a kill, so taking on the Ximungwe Female was never going to trouble him much. The good news is that while I was busy achieving nothing, Londolozi guests Val Leafe and Jane Addey were in exactly the right place and caught the whole thing on camera and have all kindly shared what they captured with us too.
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The part I keep coming back to is the Maxim’s Male. He is the dominant male here, and the father of half the youngsters on the reserve, the Shingi Male included. His son had just taken a carcass by force, right in front of him, and he did not so much as lift his head off the grass. I half expected him to bolt over and relieve the Shingi Male of his stolen meal. He never did. That kind of tolerance raises a few interesting questions about how long a young male gets to stay on his father’s ground before he has to go and carve out his own. But that is a story for another day.
For now I am left with the mental picture of a young male hauling a stolen aardvark into the top of a schotia, his father watching on from the grass, and me a couple of kilometres away, staring at a thicket, still asking it where the Nkoveni Female had hidden her den.
Hi Sean is Ximungwe with cubs ?
Hi Mike, yes, the Ximungwe Female has got one cub. It is about 6 months old now but is rather skittish.
The adventures of Londolozi’s leopards are getting more and more fabulous. Three leopards kind of sharing or fighting for a carcass and that carcass being an aardvark’s. Wow! No wonder, Sean, you could hardly sit still.
If I had been a guest at that time, I would have given nearly everything to watch this. It must be really frustrating to know about such an encounter and not being able to see it. Which might happen, of course.
Hi LGR. That was such a interesting and rather strange sighting for you, that you won’t forget about in a hurry. So thank you so much for putting it up for me to see and read. I know the kill that the large and muscular 2 1/2 year old Shingi male the aardvark kill during one night, but when he had hoisted the carcass up into a tree, I don’t suppose he was ever expecting to have his father, the Maxim’s male and his aunt, the mother of one Ximungwe female turn up at the very tree where his meal was hoisted safely. It really sure must have been so quite unexpected for him to have 2 uninvited guests turn up to try and share his meal.
But I also don’t suppose he wanted to share his meal with his aunt, who has got a young six month old cub to feed and look after as well, who also just happens to be a cousin of the young male. I know she just wanted to get something to eat to satisfy her hunger for a while, but when he had the strength and cheek to chase her up the tree like a rocket and just snatch it clean out of her mouth, I’m sure she wasn’t happy about what had just happened, but when she jumped out of the tree and exited the area, I bet she was thinking to herself how rude and greedy her large young nephew had been in trying to keep his kill to himself.
Although his aunt is a lot older than him, but I’m surprised that she didn’t attempt to try and fight him or give her nephew a good hiding to teach him a lesson, but with a young cub to feed and look after, I don’t think she could ever take any risks by getting herself injured again like she did in the middle of last year. To her and to us, she probably made the so sensible and wise choice to exit the area, and just avoid serious or fatal injury so that she could live to feed and care for her cub. It is understandable that she thought she had found a ideal good meal, but it just wasn’t worth fighting. I think it’s fair to say that she went of in a strop and huff.
I so don’t know what was going through her mind, but I have got absolutely no idea what would have happened if her young cub had been there, too. Whether the large strong Shingi male might have chased and killed or badly injured the Ximungwe female’s cub, who knows, but it doesn’t bear thinking about at all. However, I expect he ended up keeping his attempted pinched boots to himself there in the end eventually. Didn’t he? I thought the Maxim’s male would have kept a careful and close eye on his son in case he needed to intervene if things got out of hand/paw right in front of him. I am a bit surprised that he didn’t intervene and put his son in his place when the young male snatched the kill clean out his aunt’s mouth with little effort. I expect you know what happened afterwards better then I do. Although it was a very unusual kill for the Shingi male to make and get for himself, he clearly didn’t seem to have to much trouble in securing the meal and getting it up a tree quickly, before any scavengers arrived. A large young male leopard just coming into his own, might well be a lot for a mother leopard like the Ximungwe female to take on, but when female leopards like her have got young cubs to feed and look after, it’s best that they avoid injury, fatal or serious, and leave the male leopard with his booty that in his eyes, almost got pinched from right under his nose by his older and much more experienced aunt, the Ximungwe female. Bearing in mind that she’s nearly 9 years older than him, but it’s amazing how he got the upper hand/paw over her. But due to the way she jumped out of the tree and exited the area, I’m sure that signaled that she wasn’t at all happy. I will be so interested to hear your thoughts and opinions at some stage over there very soon one day.
Hope to hear from you shortly.
Robert 28.7.26
Thanks for posting – an amazing sighting – all over in about 10 seconds. Seeing and capturing Ximugwe “flying” out of the tree was one of the highlights of our trip.
Hi Sean, how agile, what an athletic female the Ximungwe is! A wonder. The Maxim male has been quite tolerant and even social with his offspring, isn’t it? The Shingi male looks as if he was the new star at Londolozi, and likely he will be… spectacular! And compliments for the video of the week!
I was lucky enough to be at this spectacular sighting. It all happened so fast that we had to watch Val’s fantastic video several times after to make sense of the action then scrutinise Jane’s amazing photos, especially Ximungwe leaping out at us. All the guests (and Guide and Tracker teams) at the sighting witnessed a unique interaction, what a privilege!
What a thrill for you! I’m so jealous!!
Holy schmoley! What an experience, what a sighting and congratulations to Jane and Val for capturing wonderful shots of the event in gorgeous light, no less! Almost unbelievable, truly awesome!
If it makes you feel any better…we all had to witness the incredible event just as you did!!! xox
Aardvarks must be tasty.
Hi Sean, I can just imagine how disappointed you were when you could not get in there when you arrived on the scene. Luckily Val and Jane had video’s of the whole episode. My word but Shingi male is not afraid at all of the Ximungwe female or his Dad the Maxim’s male. He is outright a fighter and will not back done. Remembering him not allowing his (Mom who caught a kill) to feed with him. Well I suppose that is survival mode and he is doing it perfectly. But having 3 leopards on one kill in a tree is phenomenal. Sorry you could still not find Nkoveni’s den yet. She is giving you the runabout.
Wowsa! What an incredible sighting and kudos to Jane and Val for capturing such fabulous images of the action, for those of us that weren’t there to see how it all unfolded in just 10 seconds. Ximungwe, now known as the leaping or flying leopard, was so impressive as she gave up her tasty morsel, mouth still displaying the traces of blood, as she quickly escaped any further interaction with Shingi. More importantly, she didn’t injure herself…. Now you really deserve to find Nkoveni’s cubs!!!!
It was an absolutely amazing experience! Huge thanks to our guide, Shadrack for getting us in prime position. I’ve shown the video to numerous friends and I still can’t quite believe what we witnessed. Jane’s wonderful photos and Sean’s articulate words help to bring the whole event to life – an episode that we will talk about for years to come and one that will live long in the memory.