We’d been spoilt with sightings in the days before, so that morning we decided to do something completely different and take the guests down to the deep south of the reserve. I always say that heading into the deep south is like going on an adventure. You never know what you’re going to find, and it was a part of Londolozi we hadn’t yet explored with these guests.
The morning started off quietly. We found male kudus and sat with them in the golden light. We did a little birding along the way, looking for some of the migrants that had returned and listening out for the different cuckoo calls.
Then a call came through on the radio: monkeys alarming not too far from us. I offered to go and give a helping hand. When we arrived, there were trackers on foot near the monkeys, but the alarm calls weren’t very intense, so I thought whatever had set them off had likely moved through fifteen minutes or half an hour earlier. Instead of waiting around, we explored the wider area and drove down to one of my favourite spots on the reserve, the Sand River Lookout.
We stopped there with our binoculars, scanning the little islands in the river. A Kitlitz’s Plover, which is a bird I had never seen before, had apparently been spotted there, and I was determined to find it. And then the monkeys started up again. This time it wasn’t a lazy alarm; it was rapid and intense. Veatence turned straight to me and said, “Meg, let’s go!”
They were sitting high up in a mahogany tree, all staring down into a drainage line. Getting the vehicle down there was tricky, and I was so busy making sure we didn’t take any trees with us that I wasn’t looking at much else. Then Veatence started pointing.
“Leopard cub, leopard cub.”
My brain said, leopard cub, here? I couldn’t see anything! My guests felt the same, all of us scanning the tree and asking where? We dropped down into the donga, and then up popped a little head on a branch.
“Oh my word, there’s a leopard cub. No way!”
Then the guests turned to me and asked, “Meg, did you know there was a cub here?” I had absolutely no idea that there was a cub here. Never in my wildest dreams did I think, when we left camp that morning, that we’d find a new leopard cub.
He wasn’t tiny, and he looked a little nervous. We switched off and sat still, giving him time to settle. All the while I was asking myself which leopard cub this could possibly be.
Then a female leopard walked along the other bank, and the puzzle pieces clicked into place. This was the Kurhula Female. I had only ever read about her cub from the lodges just south of us, and we were sitting in her territory. This was her first time on Londolozi, and we were the first people to find and see her cub.
Twin daughter of the Ntsumi Female and Nweti Male, born August 2023. Now navigating independence along Londolozi's southern boundary.
She was carrying something in her mouth. We all lifted our binoculars, and my guests said it looked like part of a kill. We wondered if she’d been robbed of a meal. The moment the cub saw his mother, he calmed down and ran off to join her. We were able to move down for a closer look, and it was a lovely scene. She dropped the food; the cub went crazy, calling to her and trying to get at the entrails, and she was very hot and panting. She lay down, and he snuggled up against her. She fed a little, then the cub fed.
Knowing a couple of other vehicles were out looking for her, we left them to enjoy the moment, and it was only later that we heard the rest of the story. She had killed a nyala bull in that drainage line and hoisted it into a mahogany tree, where she and her cub took turns feeding. A nyala bull is a huge antelope for a single female leopard to bring down, which explains why she looked so exhausted, and what a meal it was for the two of them.
The Kurhula Female is the daughter of the Ntsumi Female and the Nweti Male. I’ve only seen her a handful of times, and we now know this is her very first litter, which is remarkable for a leopard who was only born in 2023. It was a litter of one, so he has no siblings, and he is a young male, born in late May or early June, which makes him around five months old.
Kurhula is a Shangaan word meaning ‘peace’
It was incredible to see a brand new leopard cub on Londolozi, and to see mother and cub both looking strong. For now, we’ll keep our eyes and ears open in the south, hoping for more time with these two.
Dear Megan, so nice pics. Hope to see her in the next year. Beautiful.
What an exciting and wonderful sighting!
Lucky you!
So great that there is a new cub in the south, looking well-fed and healthy.
I wish I could see this little leopard boy.
Oh, and a wonderful video of mother and cub. Thanks, Meg!
How incredible that she’s already succeeding as a mother at such a young age herself—and to take down and hoist a kudu bull! Her cub has a lovely light coat, similar to his grandfather. I wish nothing but the best for this pair. It would be lovely to see more of her if she decides to spend more time on Londolozi.
Hi LGR. That blog on the young first time mothering Kurhula female leopard’s one and only first cub was a fascinating blog for me to see and read, so thank you for putting it up for me to see and read. As she seems to be raising her little boy cub so very well, I hope she keeps him safe and raises him to hard independence.
It doesn’t seem that surprising that she was so out of breath and very exhausted by the time you saw and found her. It is also astonishing that she managed to bring down a large adult male nyala in a drainage line, such very good and ideal place for her to hide the kill very safely. I bet the cub was delighted to have a kill.
If they both do keep the large adult male nyala kill safe, then it should last them both roughly two or three days at the most providing it doesn’t fall out of the tree she had hoisted it into and into the jaws of hyenas and lions. If they’re a bit clumsy, then they will loose their kill.
For a pretty first time mother, the young Kurhula female is doing a wildtastic job of raising her own first flesh and blood. I hope she’ll continue to be successful in raising many more cubs in the years to come and go. I think it is fair to say that she has learned very well from the experience of her well known mother. The tiny cub might not know it, but he’s got a mum in a million to raise, feed, protect and guide him to the point of very hard independence and adulthood. I also sure don’t know who his father is, but he has got, at just 4 or 5 months old, a good and caring mum to get him to the very stage that we all want him to reach & get to. But as she managed to take down a huge adult male nyala herself once, then I’m sure she can do it again eventually.
Hope to hear from you shortly.
Robert 24.10.26
I can hear you saying “Oh my word, there’s a leopard cub. No way!” in your voice that is filled with wonder! That deep south area is full of magic.
Wow Meg, how lucky you were! I would think a nyala bull would be a massive kill for a large male leopard, let alone a female….and to hoist it as well is astonishing. And the cub is just gorgeous.
What a terrific sighting, Meg! It’s always a thrill to see a leopard cub but especially true when you’re not even expecting to see one! He’s adorable, very huggable- kinda!
Those furry ears! Almost hairy….very cute, and beautiful and lovely to be able to hear the monkeys continuing to alarm in the otherwise quiet of the siting. Thanks for sharing!
How exciting Megan to find a leopard cub when you least expected to, and then have the mother appear as well. I know Kurhula and her lineage quite well – she looks like her mother but has some of the size of her father, thus not surprising she could take down a Nyala bull. I wonder if the Mawelawela male is this cub’s father…. At any rate, what a fabulous sighting for you and your guests and you’re correct about the southwest part of the reserve – there’s always a discovery to be made.
Wow Meg, that’s an amazing sighting, feel like I’m right there with you 🐆🫶🏽🤎
Hi Megan, what a huntress this beautiful female is, just like her father and mother (who will forget the grip.of the Nwet male on huge and dangerous prey?), do you know who may be the little cutie ‘s father? Cubs are always good news! Thank you!
Yeah!!! Another cub!