To say that the last few years have been tough for the Nanga female would be an understatement.
The Nanga female was born to the Nyelethi 4:4 female in 2009 as part of a litter of three.
Losing three litters and having constant turnover of the males in your area does not make the path straight and narrow for a small female leopard. Lately the Nanga female has been sighted far out of her normal territory, we are convinced in an effort to track down and mate with the 4:4 male, who has also been turning up in places we never expected. This male is a bit of an enigma. Still not 100% comfortable around vehicles, he chooses patrol routes through deep drainage lines and is not often viewed during the day. Spending much time in the Sand River where the Marthly male once patrolled, not very much is known about his habits, and a prolonged sighting of him is rare. He has, however, been spending time covering a lot of ground between the Maxabene and Manyalethi riverbeds, and we are convinced that it is him that has been drawing Nanga female into foreign areas.
The Nanga female sniffs an unfamiliar object; the cattle-grid at the entrance to Founders Camp. The Londolozi camps are far from her territory, yet she was found strolling down the main access road early one morning.
Watching the 4:4 male from atop a boulder in the Manyelethi riverbed, but in a section of the river deep in the territory of the Tutlwa female.
It has been well documented that female leopards will leave their territories to seek out neighbouring resident males and mate with them, in an attempt to confuse the paternity of the offspring. Males will kill cubs that aren’t theirs (up to 40% of cub mortality is due to unrelated males), so if the female has mated with all the dominant males in the area, and the males themselves aren’t 100% sure who the father is, the cubs stand a much better chance of survival.
The 4:4 male feeds on the remains of an nyala kill he had stolen from the Nanga female.
The Dudley Riverbank 5:5 male, easily identified by his opaque left eye, is a male probably unfamiliar to the Nanga female, yet one who she will probably have to contend with for the next while as he encroaches into her territory.
Although mating with the 4:4 male – who’s territory seems ever-expanding – may be the right thing to do, it may not be enough. As a result of the disappearance of the Gowrie Male, both the Anderson and Dudley Riverbank 5:5 males have been seen in the territory of the Nanga female, and it seems certain that things will stay convoluted for some time.
Added to this is the threat of the Tutlwa female, who is believed to be responsible for the death of a cub from each of the Nanga female’s last two litters. Female infanticide is not a well-documented phenomenon, so it seems the Tutlwa female is the exception rather than the rule, yet the fact that the two leopardesses share a territorial boundary that runs right through prime denning area around the Southern Cross and Marthly Pools Koppies would be cause for concern should the Nanga female give birth in this area again.
The turquoise area is the Nanga female’s usual territory. The pink dotted line represents the route she took through the Londolozi camps, eventually being found that evening on a kill in the Manyelethi riverbed, from which she vocalised, alerting the 4:4 male to her presence. The blue dotted line shows where she followed the 4:4 male last week, eventually mating with him around the Maxabene riverbed.
Also, venturing too far from familiar territory is a dangerous move. The Maxabene female disappeared in 2012 immediately after venturing across the Sand River to mate with the Marthly male. I can’t guarantee that her wanderings were connected with her death, but the evidence supports this theory. For the Nanga female, a small leopard, moving through the territories of the much larger Mashaba and Tutlwa females, at least one of whom is raising a cub (the Tutlwa female we suspect may also be hiding a cub somewhere) is a risky endeavour, and one we hope she doesn’t repeat too often.
Speculation is rife at the moment when it comes to both lion and leopard territories, but that is what makes the bush such a fascinating environment in which to live and work. I’m sure the animals don’t see it that way. They just have to get on with the business at hand; survival.
Written and Photographed by James Tyrrell
Amazing – its like reading a beautiful, passionate and every changing story every day! So thankful you can bring this to us via your amazing blog. Love how smart these animals are when it comes to survival – maybe we as humans need to understand we too are just as adept at survival – so many learnings from time in the bush….
Interesting blog.
Thanks for the update James. I hope the Nanga female stays safe and finds her way back to her own territory. She’s such a good mother and I hope she manages to keep her next litter of cubs out of danger and they survive to adulthood.
I am so afraid for her!! I hope she gets back to her territory so she will be safer. She has had such a hard time, one tragedy after another.
Thanks so much for the update on Nanga….she’s my favorite! I pray that she stays safe. I would so love to hear of a sighting of her only offspring.
Great informative blog! I liked being able to see her movements across the Sand River. I think she is playing with fire, but she is willing to take some risks venturing out of her territory.
The core of her territory is Londo, but she has land north of Londo as well. About the same time Tutlwa killed her cubs, the EP rangers mentioned a leopard called Salayexe was pressuring Nanga (EP calls her Moya) from the north. Salayexe is technically Nanga’s aunt, but there’s no love there. So in the last year, Nanga has been squeezed by Tutlwa from the south and Sal. from the north. This little beauty can’t catch a break!
So far Nanga has been clever and feisty enough to claim her own area (her mother’s originally) when surrounded by bigger and more powerful females. I hope her story continues on Londo for many years to come.