We set out that morning with purpose. After a few drives without luck, we were determined to find the Three Rivers Female and her cub. We had a hunch they might be hiding a kill somewhere in the dense thickets lining the Maxabene Riverbed—a place they often retreat to when laying low. Without hesitation, we made our way straight there. As we cruised slowly along the sandy contours of the riverbed, Tracker Geshom, sharp-eyed as ever, pointed out fresh scat and a scatter of tracks pressed into the soft sand. We paused to investigate when suddenly—a flash of movement! A blur of rosettes leapt between the branches of a Russet Bushwillow tree to our left.
“Leopard!”
From the size and behavior, we were confident it was the Three Rivers Young Female, but she disappeared almost as quickly as she had appeared. Just as we began scanning the dense bank for another glimpse, another figure emerged from the tall grass. There was no mistaking him—the broad head and powerful frame of the ever elusive Maxim’s Male stared back at us, before quickly retreating into the thickets. We could hardly believe our luck.
The elusive Maxim’s Male peering through the long grasses that line the bank of the Mxabene river bed.
Dominant since 2019. Once skittish Kruger-born giant now rules vast territory, transforming from elusive presence to formidable force.
We quickly looped around to the top of the bank and were met with another surprise: the Three Rivers Female and her cub were right there, lounging calmly. I paused, momentarily confused—hadn’t we just seen the Maxim’s Male on the bank of the riverbed? As we scanned the area again, Geshom delivered once more. With his signature calm focus, he spotted the male lying almost completely concealed beneath a thicket, his intense gaze fixed in our direction. There they were—mother, father, and cub—all within view. While male leopards typically play no role in raising their offspring, we suspect the Maxim’s Male may have stolen the remains of a kill from the females and had chosen to linger a little longer near the mother-daughter pair.
The Three Rivers Female and her young female choose the path of least resistance as they follow the encouraging contact calls of the Maxim’s Male.
Forced into early independence at 11 months. Despite her small size, she's proven resilient, currently raising a cub in SE Londolozi.
Shortly after realising our luck of having the whole “family” together, we were concerned the Maxim’s Male might disappear once more, resuming his usual elusive tendencies as he continued on his way after having fed handsomely. Fortunately for us, the opposite happened. The Maxim’s Male began contact-calling to the two females as he led them away from where we presumed the kill had been. We followed the trio for the rest of the morning as they moved between thickets and drainage lines.
Male leopards typically play no role in the rearing of young and will not usually spend extended periods with mother and cubs unless there is food nearby. The Maxim’s Male seemed as though he would spend the morning with the Three Rivers Duo whilst he rested, allowing to let his meal digest.
It was incredible to witness the Maxim’s Male’s involvement and tolerance toward the young female as she attempted to play and tackle her father along the way. The area was frustratingly thick, and we couldn’t capture all three of them in a single frame—but their antics made up for every missed ‘family photo.’ The females bounded up and down nearly every fallen tree in their path, their energy infectious. It was a joy to witness.
The Three Rivers Young Female, now roughly 15 months old, will soon be approaching independence and will be seen spending less and less time with her mother. She has turned into a very confident young female, and we are beyond excited to see where her journey of independence will take her amongst the ever-changing leopard dynamics of Londolozi.
Although the Maxim’s Male didn’t share their enthusiasm for tree climbing, he would often settle in the open and watch on, almost proudly. This might have been my favourite part of the morning—as elusive as he tends to be, I finally managed to capture a clear portrait of him in beautiful light. Given the size of his territory and his desire to remain undetected, sightings of him like this are very rare and very special.
The Maxim’s Male watches over the Three Rivers Female and her young female as they play around the fallen trees along the Inyathini drainage line.
Little did we know, while the trio moved through a shaded drainage line, a hyena had picked up on their scent and the calls. Instinctively, the young female darted up a tall tamboti tree, seeking the safety of the high branches. The ever-protective Three Rivers Female moved swiftly to confront the threat. Out of our view, we heard her guttural growls as she dissuaded the hyena from continuing its pursuit. It all happened so quickly, and unfortunately, the surrounding vegetation meant that none of us were able to capture this moment on video or pictures; however, it was an incredibly tense and thrilling moment amongst a very special morning. Shortly after chasing off the intruder, the trio continued on their way, eventually settling to rest within a peaceful grove of Tamboti trees.
The elegance of the Three Rivers Female as she pauses, waiting for her young female to catch up to her.
After spending time with all three leopards together, it became unmistakably clear, thanks to the Maxim’s Male’s incredibly strong genetics, that he is without a doubt the father of the Three Rivers Young Female. She has a striking resemblance to arguably the largest and most successful male leopard within the Sabi Sand Nature Reserve.
The imposing figure of a very full Maxim’s Male as he scans a nearby drainage line before proceeding along his path.
The only shot I managed to capture with both the Three Rivers Female and the Maxim’s Male together. The Three Rivers Female takes advantage of a fallen knobthorn tree as the Maxim’s Male prefers the slightly my concealed route through the long grass and thicket lines.
A sighting like this is rare, layered with tension, beauty, and the quiet recognition of each individual’s role in the unfolding Leopard dynamics of Londolozi. These are the moments we live for out here: brief, brilliant glimpses into the elusive, complex lives of leopards. It was a mesmerising morning that I will never forget.
Thanks for this lovely update. The Maxims male is truly a beautiful animal. Great to see them all together.
I am so thrilled that you enjoyed this blog Jos!
what an incredible experience! following the leopards and their life histories is fascinating. thank you!
It certainly is one of the perks of the job! Thank you Deborah.
Reece, how lucky you and your guests were to have this very rare and fabulous sighting! I’m sure none of you will ever forget this.
Hi Suzanne, certainly not! It is sightings like this that emphasise the point of never knowing what you might come across out there!
I had already seen the Maxim male close to the Three Rivers duo. A guess – only a guess as an ethologist that always has to pick up the right card in the dark- is that, as I guessed the wild dogs that were stolen their puppies were rejoined by a dog from the Toulon pack, the Maxim male dislike deeply human contact (genetics play a lesser role in this, it is more due to his first experience in life) he is a softer leopard than other males, say the Senegal Bush male or the Inyathini male- and doesn’t dislike at all some time spent with relatives.
That is an interesting perspective, Francesca. It sure is a privilege to be able to follow these animals and learn their individual behaviours and tendencies.
Thanks for the beautiful photos of these fantastic leopards. It’s so nice that they sometimes seem to meet as a “family”.
He has fathered several of the young cubs that live at Londolozi at the moment, hasn’t he? An amazingly big and handsome leopard, the Maxim’s.
He sure is, Christa! Makes us all wonder how often these encounters happen without us being their to witness them…
How did the three Rivers female survive at 11 months old on her own?
Hi Tammy. These animals are all incredibly resilient and at that age she would have already learnt a great deal from her mother that she could have fallen back on. However, one must never neglect the fact that these animals all have great instinctual intuition and although she would have had to learn many difficult lessons along the way, she was able to learn from them and adjust her hunting and survival strategies accordingly.
Thank you food was my biggest concern. I’m delighted she made it wish her mom had of been with her
What a n awesome morning and a well-told tale, Reece. It must have been thrilling to see all three, a special sighting! I’d love to see the Maxim’s male out in the open like that instead of through bushes and grasses. Maybe next time!
Thank you, Mary Beth. It was a very special sighting. I’ll be holding thumbs that you will be able to experience something similar next visit.
Great job Reece! Your patience and a great tracker paid off! That’s so rare to see three leopards at the same time let alone Father and Daughter! Great shots too.
Hi Michael and Terri, I am so glad you enjoyed this update. I hope you are both well.
wonderful! 🙂
Thank you, Anita!
Well Reece, you struck gold with this sighting of 3 leopards, especially one with the extremely elusive Maxim’s male. Your portraits of him are fantastic – no heavy brush in his way. The Three Rivers female’s cub is almost as large as her mother and does bear a slight resemblance to her father. You mentioned there was no aggression so I assume it was because he stole the rest of their kill. I’ve always wondered if males have the ability to identify their offspring as it is known they will kill leopard cubs. Also, do males know who their mating partners are and secretly follow up to check if cubs have been born. Since he wasn’t aggressive towards the young female, could it be he knew she was his offspring? Great story!
Hi Denise, thank you very much, I was very pleased that I finally was able to capture a clear shot of him. Yes they certainly will be able to identify their off spring, mainly using familiar scent as they will be within his territory and I am sure that these encounters happen far more frequently than what we actually are able to witness ourselves.
Hi Reece, what a wonderful update on the Maxim’s male leopard and the Three Rivers female and her female cub. They seem to be one happy family and I thoroughly enjoyed all your photo’s of them. Maxim’s male is a stunning specimen and you can see the resemblance in the cub. Glad you captured all these photo’s and having seen father, mother and cub together.
Thank you very much, Valmai.
Super blog with wonderful photos of a very special sighting, thank you Reece.
Thank you, JR! I hope you are keeping well.
What an incredible sighting! I’m glad you were all able to enjoy the trio for an extended period of time.
Thank you, Chelsea. It was a truly magical sighting!
How amazing and fabulous to see this family all together for an extended sighting! And for Maxim’s to actually be calling the females too!! Having said this, I have witnessed Flat Rock being an incredible “family man” too with Nhlanguleni and Nkuwa and Finfoot back in 2019, so it must just be individual leopard personalities that determines how involved a male will be with his females and offspring…..and of course, it does not hurt that he was a very well-fed daddy at this particular moment!!
Hi Lisa, you are so right! Naturally, due to the size of the Maxim’s Male’s territory, he needs to patrol and move around quite a bit. So it would only be of benefit to check in on “his” females and cubs and perhaps score himself a meal if he is lucky!
Marvelous images of this family…so beautiful and strong
Thank you, Karen. I am so glad you enjoyed this update.