Right, let’s get the embarrassing bit out of the way first. The Tsalala Lioness. A few episodes back, we got rather carried away with the idea that she had given birth on Londolozi, and I put that excitement out into the world with full confidence. Turns out, upon closer inspection of the original footage, there were no suckle marks — something I somehow managed to overlook in the excitement of it all. A month later, Andrea spotted her again with a very full belly, a swollen milk pouch, and very clearly still pregnant. So, lesson learned. Don’t let hope do the fieldwork. She has since given birth, but sadly, on our western neighbours’ property. We wish her all the luck with this litter and hope she eventually makes her way back to us with some cubs in tow.
Taking up residence on top of Ximpalapala Koppie in the Tsalala’s absence is the Xinzele Female, and we believe she may have cubs up there. I say “believe” loosely — no one has actually laid eyes on any cubs. We’re basing this entirely on the fact that she keeps turning up on the same boulder, in the same spot, doing the thing females do when they have a very good reason to stay put. It’s a hunch, but it’s a reasonably educated one.
Then the Hlambela Male showed up.
He was scratching around in the bushes right next to the rock where we think those cubs are. Now here’s where it gets complicated. The Hlambela Male is the dominant male in this area, which makes him the most likely candidate to have fathered those very cubs he was sniffing around. A male leopard killing his own offspring is not unheard of, it happens, but it’s also not guaranteed. The question is: what was he doing up there? Males don’t tend to hang around potential den sites without reason. We left him prowling, not visibly worked up, not in a rush. Whether that’s reassuring or not, I honestly couldn’t say. The uncertainty of leaving a scene like that and just having to wait is one of the harder parts of this job.
We also spent a good stretch of the evening with the Maxim’s Male on a full territorial patrol, scent marking his way across the property like he had a point to prove. Had a brief stint with the Gijima Males beforehand, but they weren’t giving us much to work with. The Maxim’s Male more than made up for it.
And then there’s this. Last week, when the Xinkhova Female was carrying her cub, I had a feeling she was going to walk straight down the road, the path of least resistance. So I looped ahead, placed a small camera on the road, and lined it up perfectly. Backlit. Slow motion. A mother leopard with a tiny cub dangling from her mouth, walking straight into the frame. It would have been one of the best shots I’ve ever captured. She walked right past it. I filmed the whole thing on multiple other cameras. Drove in to collect the small one, picked it up, looked at the screen, and it wasn’t recording. I could have launched it into the river. A first attempt at using that camera, and I picked that moment to wing it. That one is going to sit with me for a while.
Anyway. Stay tuned for the next episode, we spend more time in the north with the Xinzele Female, the Hlambela Male still lurking around the koppie, and then we follow the Xinkhova Female as she moves what appears to be a second cub to her new den. You really don’t want to miss that one. Make sure you subscribe.
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on The Most Painful Mistake I’ve Made Behind a Camera | Virtual Safari #318