As we all know, a leopard mother raising cubs in the wild faces an incredibly challenging task. With high competition from other female leopards vying for their own territory, the landscape for raising cubs is anything but easy. In recent weeks, we’ve been fortunate to witness a remarkable amount of leopard cub activity. When we venture into the southeastern parts of Sparta, we often find fresh leopard tracks, leading us to either the Nkoveni Female and her three cubs or the Ximungwe Female and her two cubs. It’s truly a privilege to witness these sightings.
One of the Ximungwe Female Cubs enjoys some tender lover and care from its mother.
The fateful day when we found her moving her two cubs north for the very first time.
Although we’ve had many high-quality encounters with the Ximungwe Female and her cubs, we’ve also noticed her unusual behaviour. She recently moved her cubs to a new den far north from their previous location, an abrupt shift that raises questions about her motives. Moving her cubs two kilometres away and showing signs of agitation suggest she may have perceived a threat in the original area. She could have quite possibly had three cubs to begin with and having lost one prompted this move. We are not sure, this is just speculation.
Resting in the soft sand of the Maxabene Riverbed. A perfect spot to wait out the heat of the day.
Since moving the den, the Ximungwe Female and her cubs have become easier to find. We often encounter them during game drives, sometimes in the Maxabene Riverbed or nearby thickets, and lately with the cubs now eating meat they have been found around several carcasses in her territory. However, leading her cubs to carcasses carries significant risks, such as attracting scavenging hyenas or encountering a young nomadic male leopard. These threats are especially dangerous when the cubs are out in the open with no sanctuary to retreat to.
While leading a cub to a carcass the mother is is often highly alert expecting danger to be around every corner.
To mitigate these risks, the mother leopard tends to move her cubs during daylight hours when most nocturnal predators are resting. Often choosing to do this swiftly with very little delay and sometimes even moving one cub at a time as Barry speaks about here. At carcass sites, there can be some safety for the cubs, such as climbing into trees to escape the reach of hyenas and spot potential danger. Nevertheless, staying near a carcass comes with its own set of risks. Many of them are associated with other predators being drawn in by the scent of the blood and carcasses being carried by the wind.
In between bouts of feeding on a carcass, the mother and her cubs will often rest on the ground nearby, given that there are no hyenas in the vicinity.
Given our frequent sightings of the Ximungwe Female, we were surprised when she wasn’t seen for almost a week. We still found tracks of her in the usual area, but her presence became increasingly elusive. While we continued to find tracks of at least one and at times we thought possibly two cubs, however, this was difficult to tell and it was challenging to determine their exact whereabouts.
Eventually, we found her.
Eventually, we found the Ximungwe Female with a carcass, but only one cub was present. This discovery raises concerns about the other cub’s fate, adding to the tension and uncertainty surrounding this leopard family’s future. We hope that the second cub turns up soon and we will keep a very close eye out going forward.
i hope these two cubs will be safe and grow to be strong.
We hope so too.
I look back and forth at the pictures, how beautiful these two are and the cub in particular ha a peculiar look, like the past Ntomi cub, something serious and super cute. I do hope the other cub will show up. I read so much about hyenas and wrote about their interesting familiar behaviour. But they aren’t as smart as some researchers claim, more leopards mean more carcasses to eat… if they kill so many cubs leopards will lessen in numbers…
They really were such gorgeous little cubs.
Very special mother and cubs photos! Fingers crossed that the second cub is found soon!
Fingers crossed but sadly it is not looking too hopeful.
Fingers crossed!!!
🤞🏻. We hope it is still alive, but sadly it isn’t looking too promising.
Of course, there is a lot of risk involved in bringing up cubs, nature can be really cruel and there are so many dangers around for such a little animal. Still, I do hope that both cubs are still alive and Fien. It is so sad that so many cubs are killed so early in life,
Nature can indeed be so cruel. It really is a tough life for a mother leopard.
Well, we know the odds aren’t in favor for leopards to raise their cubs, and any success story is a win for these amazing big cats. At the time of your viewing, perhaps the second one was resting elsewhere, or up a tree as mentioned in a previous post. Fingers crossed she still has two but, if not, that she can raise the one pictured. By the way, any updates on Nkuwa and her cubs, if they survived?
The odds are not in the favour of the leopards, the mothers have such a difficult time raising their cubs and keeping them safe.
Paws crossed it will turn up – but if not, hopefully she’ll bring the remaining cub to independence as she has done with her last 2 litters. Do you know if the cub you saw is male or female?
Hopefully she has some better luck in the future. I think the one that went missing was the female but I am not one hundred percent sure on that.
Oh no Sean, that is very sad news about this cub that is no where to be seen. I was hoping that she would be able to raise both of the cubs to adulthood. But as you say, it is very difficult for leopard cubs to get to adulthood, being surrounded by predators and even other male leopards, who kill them. So sad to hear this news. Let’s hope the other cub was just lying low and did not want to come out while being watched.
It is very sad news.