To say the least, it was an afternoon full of excitement and joy. Trevor, my tracker, and I headed out with a specific goal in mind: to find the Three Rivers or Tinxiya female leopards. Things became exciting very quickly. As we entered her territory, we picked up her tracks on a road that had just been driven by Ross Cheshire. The tracks were extremely fresh, lying directly on top of where Ross had driven barely ten minutes earlier.
We reached a point where the tracks appeared to cut off. Trevor continued further down the road, where the substrate became softer, to see if she had carried on, while I walked off into the riverine. Not long after dropping down, I found another leopard track. However, with the soft river sand falling into the print, it was difficult to age accurately.
I called Trevor and Life (who tracks with Ross) to come and have a look. While they made their way toward me, I scanned the surrounding vegetation and, just 20 metres away, I couldn’t believe my eyes, there were both leopards playing with each other. I was over the moon, quickly ran back to the vehicle, and tried to drive in. After a bit of careful negotiating through the thick, dense vegetation, we managed to get into view of these magnificent animals.
Shortly after, the leopards continued walking and stopped to drink at a few established mud wallows. The reflections were breathtaking and always leave you speechless.
Not far from where they drank, a herd of impala was grazing. Their behaviour changed immediately as the leopards became opportunistic predators. The Tinxiya Female began to stalk, and once she was within roughly eight meters, she pounced. Luckily for the impala, they ducked and dived, with the closest miss being no more than a meter.
This attempt caused the Three Rivers Female and the Tinxiya Female to split. The Tinxiya Female began contact calling, but there was no immediate response from her mother. Shortly after, she began to rasp loudly, which was a first for me. She scent-marked and continued rasping, and in the distance, we heard another leopard respond. This time it sounded like a male, which we presumed to be the Maxim’s Male. The calls grew closer and closer, and soon all three leopards were rasping.
Eventually, the three leopards met up. This was absolutely incredible, with almost three fully grown individuals together. A mix of aggression and affection followed, making for an unforgettable sighting. After settling briefly in the thickets, they moved into an open clearing where the golden light of sunset washed over their coats. Seeing the Maxim’s Male so relaxed and sitting right next to the vehicle was incredibly special. What amused me most was watching the impala in the area, when the three leopards emerged into the clearing at different times and speeds, the impala were some of the most confused I’ve ever seen.
From start to finish, it was an incredible experience and arguably one of my favourite leopard sightings ever.
What a wonderful morning and i can just imagined how excited you must have been to witness them! Nice that the two ladies are still joining up to play together!
What an amazing story and outrageous experience , and your pics were great. Needless to say i am very jealous . well done George
Wow Dean, unbelievably special. Thank you for a splendid blog and fabulous pictures.
Fantastic! How lucky you were to see this, Dean.
I’m guessing it won’t be long before 3 Rivers mates again?
How special that you got to see all three at once. It’s been a beautiful unfolding, the way the Maxims male has slowly acclimated to the vehicles over the years. The size difference between the male and females is very apparent in the image of the three of them. In black and white it’s easy to miss the leopard in the foreground.
Hi Dean, the Maxim male is definitely a social guy when he’s in the mood to! The most vivid memory of mine is of him mating with both the Mashaba and Ndzanzeni females, he was already seen I think with both the Nkoveni Female and offspring and the Three Rivers female and the once young Three Rivers female… and not scolding off his son, the Shingi male… there already have been other dominant males exhibiting their also pacific and cooperative behaviour that’s so intriguing! Thank you for this memorable tale and pictures ..
What a fantastic sighting! It would also have been one of my favourite leopard sightings, indeed!
How happy your guests and yourselves must have been. I love the photo of mother and daughter playing with each other. So beautiful!
That was an epic sighting – mother and daughter joining up for a bit of play and then off to quench their thirst. But even better was the arrival of Maxim’s male, who came to investigate the rasping, giving you and your guests the sighting a lifetime. I’m sure that drive will be talked about for months to come!
Hi Dean, well that was family gathering that you will remember forever. It is fantastic to see the Three Rivers female and her daughter still playing together and then the cherry on top of the cake, having the Maxim’s male come and join them. Wow that is exceptional and I wish that one day I too will be able to view something as special as this. Well done Dean!!! and thanks for sharing.
What an incredible sighting! It is fabulous to know the history of each leopard to add context to the story ❤️
What a fun and exciting sighting! Great shot of the Maxim’s male, so huge and imposing!
What a story!!! Would have loved to witness this interaction!