I’m not too sure if anyone has picked up on this, but several of my previous blogs have been about the Xinzele Female.
A stunning female found in the north. Successfully raised the Thumbela Female while establishing dominance in NW Marthly.
For some reason, I’m always drawn to her. She is beautiful, relaxed, and has a certain presence that’s hard to describe. Every time we decide to go looking for her in the morning, I can’t help but have a little extra smile on my face.
Her territory is situated in the northwestern corner of the reserve, so a great place to start searching for her is around Ximpalapala Koppie.
On one of our recent morning drives, we decided to scout the area to see if we could pick up her tracks and determine whether she was still around the koppie. The previous day she had been found on the koppie itself, so we were hopeful. After searching the surrounding area, we couldn’t find any tracks leading away from the koppie, which suggested she might still be there. We spent a good amount of time looking but eventually decided to move on after having no luck.
It was time for a warm cup of coffee and a quick snack. However, just as we stopped not far from the koppie, another vehicle nearby heard klipspringers and squirrels alarm calling from the rocky slopes. Moments later, guide Shaun D’Araujo found the Xinzele Female and radioed through to let us know. We were there in a flash.
When we arrived, we witnessed something that made me incredibly happy. She was carefully sniffing around the boulders, potentially searching for a suitable den site. Seeing this made me take a closer look at her condition, and I’m pleased to say that she looked healthy and, to my eye, appeared to be carrying a little extra weight that could indicate pregnancy.
One fascinating thing about a pregnant leopard is that there is usually very little visible roundness until the final weeks of pregnancy. Much of the cubs’ development takes place higher up in the abdomen, beneath the rib cage, where the embryos are well protected. It is only during the later stages of pregnancy that the lower abdomen begins to appear noticeably fuller.
The next thing we’ll be looking out for is whether, the next time the Xinzele female is seen, she has a sagging milk pouch or obvious suckle marks – both good indicators that she has given birth.
Historically, she has denned on this koppie, so perhaps we’ll be lucky enough to see her raise another litter there once again!
Great news, Dean!
Would be so nice if she had another litter and hopefully a successful one.
I am looking forward to hearing more about her condition.
Hi Dean.
This is very good news to hear that she might be pregnant. There are some animals that just makes it so much better seeing them every now and then. In your case you love the Xinzele female and that is why you always look out for her. Let’s hope she brings you more joy by being pregnant. For me it was a Inyala bull on the Reserve were we stay. For 4 years he came everyday so I could see him and feed him. He used to come and rest here in front of my veranda for hours. Sometimes the whole day he was here. In the month of May the committee decided to sell a lot of animals and unfortunately my Inyala bull was one of them they sold. But before he was sold he brought his son with him to come and eat here by us and rest here. So know only the son comes to visit, and some times he brings three other young bulls as well.
I love this Dean, thank you! I hope she has cubs and will continue to keep watch for your updates. Beautiful leopard and photos!
Very cool development Dean! I hope she has a successful pregnancy, and is able to bring another cub – or two! – to maturity. Looking forward to your next update.
Finally exciting news Dean! The lesser dominant leopards dwell in Londolozi (lately the news about the Three Rivers female, Mashaba female and Ndzanzeni female – I ask to myself about the Nhlanguleni female…) every new life to come or cubs already born is a very happy and rewarding happening. Looking forward to reading more! Thank you Dean
Dean, that is great news and we hope she is expecting. It would be great to see some new Cub from her!
I’m so happy to hear Dean that Xinzele definitely looks to be pregnant. More cubs are always welcome and given what’s occurred in that department since late April, cub sightings have been missing. Nkoveni is being very careful about keeping her cubs well hidden. So fingers crossed that these early signs of pregnancy are true and you will find her in the next couple of months with little fluff balls.
Such good news! Fingers crossed for a successful pregnancy and birth, protected by the koppie!
Interesting note about the embryo development. I didn’t realize their bellies kept their pregnancies rather secret until the last few weeks. How clever nature is.