The Ntomi Male is still doing well and recently provided us with an incredible afternoon’s sighting…
It was my first game drive with a new set of guests (a combination of experienced safari go-ers as well as first-timers). With this in mind, and knowing that the Ntomi Male had been briefly spotted that morning, we decided to head back into the area where he had been seen that morning in the hope that he would still be around.
Setting off with a similar idea, Ranger Chris Taylor and Nick Tennick joined in on the search, and within the first hour of being out, Nick radioed us to say the Ntomi Male had been spotted and was on the move!
Arriving scene. The Ntomi Male in all his glory walks across an open clearing as he approaches the road.
A single cub of the Ximungwe Female's second litter. Initially rather skittish but is very relaxed now. Birth mark in his left eye.
With a graciousness and poise that is always somewhat majestic, we watched the Ntomi Male mill about in an open clearing. Completely relaxed with the vehicles, he spent a good while simply walking along the road, creating great photographic opportunities. He stopped every now and then with an intent to listen for any prospective prey nearby. He seemed hungry.
It is always such a privilege getting to experience these animals in such close proximity, and seemingly unaware of our presence.
Playing around with a black-and-white edit.
While there was no obvious sign of any prey in sight, we continued to follow him until he veered off the road into some long grass. Seeming like a natural ending to the sighting, we were about to leave and find a place to stop to watch the sunset, when we heard the rustle and trot of a mother warthog and her piglets from behind our vehicle heading in our (and the leopard’s) direction.
Our view of the warthog was somewhat similar to the image below (albeit only 3 piglets). We watched as they walked directly towards the Ntomi Male, completely unaware of what lurked in the grass up ahead.
Before I could even explain to the guests why Equaliser and I had decided to stay an extra five minutes and watch the warthog also disappear off into the long grass, the next thing we heard was a big commotion and distress calling from one of the piglets as the others scattered in all directions. The Ntomi Male had clearly heard the warthogs approaching too and instantly capitalized on his cover in the long grass before targeting one of the piglets!
Here the Nhlanguleni Female carries a recently killed warthog piglet. Especially in the summer, piglets are ‘easy’ prey for the likes of the opportunistic leopard.
In almost a state of disbelief at how quickly there had been a turn of events, we were suddenly enthralled in watching this male leopard suffocate his next meal before deciding to carry it a good 100m or so towards a nearby prominent tree atop a termite mound.
Ntomi Male resting in the shade of a Jackalberry Tree.
We were fortunate enough to watch him hoist the kill into the tree before finding a shady-covered branch to dangle his legs over, rest, and catch his breath.
It turned out to be an exhilarating afternoon of so many different exciting moments all bundled into one afternoon’s sighting!
Too bad for the piglet, but I’m glad the Ntomi male was able to catch himself a nice snack. Lucky for you and your guests that you were able to watch the whole scene unfold. I think I would have had to cover my ears. 🙉
What a fantastic sighting, Kate! Just when you think you’ve had a wonderful sighting and are ready to head off…..it always amazes me how they can appear to be very relaxed and casual one minute, then switch to full hunting mode in the blink of an eye. Ntomi is one of my favourites, as I’ve been fortunate enough to see him several times from when he was a cub. I’m hoping he might still be around when I come back in November.
I know that warthogs are most appreciated by leopards and this time he had effortlessly caught his small prey… sorry for the piglet, at last leopards are the “merciful ” killers, suffocating their prey quickly before eating them. This is one of the reasons why I prefer them to the other carnivores, besides many other qualities all embedded by the magnificent Ntomi male. Any view of him must be a wonder. Thanks for it
Kate, great video to the Ntomi male hoisting his kill up the tree. Just another example that life in the bush is very fragile.
Lucky guests , unlucky warthog
Being at the right spot at the right moment! Such good luck to see him catch a piglet, though I am also sorry for the poor little guy. Thanks for this great blog, Kate
What an exciting drive! Ntomi is always fun to watch. Wish I’d been there, Kate!
The Ntomi male is my favorite young male leopard and I love looking at photo’s of him. He is such a stunning leopard and a good specimen. It just goes to show how quick he was to take the opportunity to kill one of the warthog right in front of the Land Rovers. Well done with the video of him taking his kill up the tree. Always a great achievement to see the Ntomi male and especially if he has a kill.
He’s my fave…such a gorgeous boy! That was a good sized piglet! Must have been a hard first time for your new guest w/ warthogs making quiet a racket compared to say, an impala 🙁
What an exciting drive for your first timers, a magnificent male leopard catching a warthog piglet! Ntomi is continuing to look strong and well fed, indicating he’s a good hunter, and thankfully he’s still around the reserve. Thanks for the update.