Over the past few months, the Nhlanguleni Female has been absent from Londolozi. No tracks called in on her usual routes. No unexpected encounters leaving or returning to camp. For a leopard whose territory ran so close to home, that silence is hard to ignore, and after months without any sign, it seems we may have to accept that this female, born in 2011, may no longer be with us.
Initially skittish female who transformed into a regular presence. Made history by raising first intact litter since her own generation.
Nobody knows exactly what happened, or when. That is often the way with leopards; they slip away quietly, and the bush simply absorbs the absence. What we do know is that she spent her last months moving more and more into the river itself, ranging occasionally further south, and arriving back at one point with wounds to her hindquarters, likely from lions. The territory around her had grown more competitive too, with the Ngungwe Female and Xinkhova Female both becoming increasingly established in areas that overlapped with her range. For an ageing leopard, that kind of pressure accumulates.
While driving through her old territory over the last six weeks, I found myself reflecting on the sightings I have had of her over the years. Often they were unexpected, fresh tracks leading you west of camp, or the alarm calls of a bushbuck drifting across the carpark just before a game drive. Her characteristic green eyes, positioned slightly closer together than most, made her one of the first leopards I could confidently identify when I arrived. That face was unmistakable.
Her captivating green eyes, coupled with the distinctive spots across her nose, gave her a look entirely her own.
What made her story particularly remarkable was how much she changed. As a young female, she was skittish and unrelaxed. A product of her upbringing, raised by a nervous mother, spending her formative months hidden deep in the riverine thickets. But over time, and with the patience the bush sometimes rewards, she transformed into an extraordinary animal to spend time with. Calm. Confident. Utterly at home in a territory that seemed tailor-made for her.
And it was a remarkable territory. Dense riverine cover, multiple clusters of boulders, long stretches of the Sand River largely inaccessible to vehicles, all of it perfect for keeping cubs hidden and safe. Close too to the undulating crests and open clearings where impala were reliable. On paper, it was everything a mother leopard could ask for.
My first ever leopard cub was hers, found on a training drive. Some of my most memorable sightings were with a later litter, on a beautiful set of boulders I still think about every time I drive past. She raised many litters over the years and lost most of them, not through any fault of her own or any failing as a mother, but through the kind of hard luck that leopards in the wild are simply not insulated from. She raised the Finfoot Female and the Nkuwa Female to independence, and that alone is a legacy worth holding onto.
When we first came around to the den, she was grooming her little cubs before they disappeared back into the rock
Next thing, she climbed onto the boulder and scanned her surroundings before climbing back down.
And then, suddenly, this little face appeared, a cub following the scent of its mother.
One of the most remarkable sightings was watching her carry her young cubs in the mid-morning to a new den. Something like that is genuinely difficult to put into words.
This is something one can’t quite put into words when being faced with something like this.
She carried her tiny cubs to a new den
Just before leaving for a drive one afternoon, we heard a bushbuck alarming just outside camp. We drove around the corner to find the Nhlanguleni Female moving her kill into the cover of a Tamboti grove.
A memorable sighting too: after finishing the remains of a kill hoisted in a Schotia tree, she settled on a termite mound at eye level, completely relaxed.
So I find myself reflecting on the years she spent here and the moments I was able to share with guests. Her legacy continues with the Nkuwa Female, who, although now ranging further west, continues to thrive, having successfully raised three male cubs, and with two new additions still tucked away in a rocky area, only a few weeks old. We can only hope that one of those cubs is a female, so that this lineage might one day return to the ground her mother knew so well.
The Nkuwa female and her two male cubs that she raised in 2023 to independence before they dispersed.
Raised as an intact litter, first in 7 years, who has now made her own history by raising two males to independence as an intact litter.
In her absence, the landscape is already beginning to shift. The Xinkhova Female has been moving more regularly west of camp. There is space now, and the bush will fill it in its own time. But for those of us who knew her tracks west of camp, who recognised those green eyes, or the spots on her nose, she will not be easily forgotten.
Always sad to see the disappearance of a well known leopard. But. I guess. Nature moves on. The memories stay. And that is always the most important.
Hi Kirst, you’re right, her eyes are unforgettable! What a beautiful leopard. Her cubs in the first pictures also exhibit a unique look, appearing to nearly smile! Incredible that the Nkuwa female raised three males. She has been an excellent mum in favourable circumstances. What a beautiful story… and the Finfoot female? Thank you Kirst!
Hi LGR. That was such a moving and well deserved tribute to the assumably late and elusive Nhlanguleni female leopard who hasn’t been seen for a very long period of time. Although we don’t know an awful lot about her early life, as she so was a very skittish young leopard when she was first viewed, possibly as a young cub who was very unhabituated to game drive vehicles when she arrived on your property in 2011. I don’t know much about her either, but I know she was well known for been very elusive as you often sometimes went months or weeks between sightings of her. I have got no idea who her parents were either as I guess they were nervous as well.
I know she had quite a few litters of cubs during her lifetime as a adult, but I don’t know how many litters of cubs she gave birth to and how many cubs she raised to independence successfully. But the ones that I know she raised well, were both beautiful litter mate sisters who are adults themselves right now so far. I know at least one’s a mother now.
Raising those two litter mate sisters is so much better then one at all, but they’re her only successful litter that I know of. If there’s any other litters that she managed to raise and get to independence that I’m not aware of, then it’ll be great and very interesting if you could tell me if she raised anymore cubs other than those two young females, it will be helpful.
Although the Nkuwa female has been a very good and unusually successful mum as she’s raised 3 male cubs already, it is so good to know that she’s got 2 new arrivals in her third litter of cubs currently. But as for her litter mate twin sister, the Finfoot female who hasn’t been seen for a long time, I’ve got absolutely no idea. I don’t know where she’s moved her territory to and also how many litters of cubs and how many cubs she’s raised already. But if their aging and elusive mother is dead after not been seen for a long time, let’s hope they’ll continue with their own success and also continue their possibly late mother’s dynasty a lot more successfully by raising a lot more young cubs to independence and adulthood then what their late mother managed to raise herself. I know she won’t be forgotten, but she’ll be well remembered for the countless very good sightings and her matchimoanial difficulties in raising cubs successfully.
But if she did raise a few more cubs which I wasn’t aware of in other litters, then do let me know soon as possible please. It’ll be so interesting to know.
Hope to hear from you shortly.
Robert 20.10.26
A lovely blog on the Nhlanguleni Female.
I saw her several times, once with her probably last cub in a very intimate setting.
She called her cub and it came out of hiding and she kind of presented it to us for a long time and then both vanished into the bushes.
It was a sighting I will never forget.
So sad that she herself had to go. But there is still her daughter and she might have a female cub one day, maybe.
Hi Kirst, it is sad to hear that she is no where to be found. She is 15 years old and I suppose that is a long life span for a leopard living in the bush with so many predators lurking around. She does have beautiful eyes, actually mesmerizing to say the least. Her nose with those spots on was also known to her alone. Finfoot Female and the Nkuwa female are both beautiful leopardessess. Beautiful story Kirst and thanks for the update on her.
I remember the first time I saw Nlhanguleni was with you in 2021, walking through the tall grasses, her eyes captivating me. The next few years I only had fleeting sightings of her until my 2025 visit when I spent a bit of time with her not far from camp. At that time she had a significant limp in her back right leg, pausing frequently to rest, but she looked well fed. It’s heartbreaking that another well-known female has presumably disappeared into the bush, like Ndzanzeni and Mashaba, quietly leaving no trace, save for the pictures and memories that have been captured by rangers, trackers and many guests over the years. She may be gone but will not be forgotten.
Too many memories with her especially with cubs at double M crossing. Those eyes!!
Such a beautiful story about an amazing animal. ♥️
A lovely tribute, Kirst! She was a favorite of mine for so long and that experience of seeing both her and her tiny cub up on top of that granite boulder was forever memorable! I will miss seeing her.