Leopards continue to allow us into their intricate and elusive lives as displayed by this weeks selection of images. Camp Pan is still holding onto his territory and is demonstrating just how much of a fight he is prepared to put up in order to keep it – there is definitely a lot left in the tank of this leopard. The Nyaleti Young Female was also sighted a few times and provided for some spectacular photographic opportunities just prior to her hunt of an impala. And, of course, what would today’s Leopard blog be without a mention of the spectacular sighting of last week’s mating epic between the Dudley 5:5 Male, the Mxabene Female and the Tamboti Female. Enjoy…
The Camp Pan Male is still not giving up just yet. Despite sporting a bloody injury on the inside of his left leg (most likely from a warthog tusk by the looks of it), he was moving well and looking in good condition.
Camp Pan surveys a portion of his territory before attempting to hunt an Impala. While he does this, Dudley 5:5, in the heart of this territory, mates with two females that in past years would have rather sought out Camp Pan.
The Vomba Female continues to be seen regularly and was even seen North of the Sand River for the first time in many months this week. She too will hopefully follow her daughter’s lead with a new litter of cubs soon.
The Tutlwa Female, still as elusive as ever, finally showed us her new cub! Hopefully as it gets a little older she will become more comfortable in bringing it out of the sanctuary of the river for us to see.
The Emsagwen Male made another appearance this week in Marthly. He is becoming a more frequent visitor to the eastern half of this area north of the Sand River.
Usually a sign that a leopard is about to start moving, this big yawn from Nyaleti young female shows us her formidable set of teeth.
After a long absence, the Nyaleti young female has started being seen more frequently. With no sign of her mother for over four months, she has been frequenting all her mother’s old favourite areas, looking to take over what her mother appears to have left behind.
With some impala in the distance, the Nyaleti Young Female crouches down low on top of a termite mound in golden afternoon light.
Dudley 5:5 Male Leopard and Mxabene 2:2 Female Leopard
Dudley 5:5 and Maxabene prepare to mate. This was the start of their time mating together, before the Tamboti Female joined the fray.
The Mxabene female relaxes in Marula at night. She spent most of this week mating with the Dudley Riverbank 5:5 male although she was forced to compete with the Tamboti Female (daughter of the Sunset Bend Female) for his attention.
