December 2010

OSTRICH KOPPIES FEMALE 6 YEARS 2 MONTHS
1 CUB 4 MONTHS
EYREFIELD
(3 sightings of female, 2 sightings of female and cubs, 0 sightings of cubs alone)

Tragedy stuck mid December for this young female. She and her two cubs were caught in an ambush by three of the Styx lionesses, she and one of the cubs managed to escape but the other cub a young male was caught and killed. The Ostrich Koppies female didn’t have any luck with her first litter and it looks like inexperience has struck again. Let see if she can manage to keep the last cub alive and raise it to independence.

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November 2010

OSTRICH KOPPIES FEMALE 6 YEARS
2 CUBS 3 MONTHS
EASTERN MARTHLY, EYREFIELD
(2 sighting; 0 sightings of female and cubs; 0 sightings of cubs alone)

A very disappointing month of sightings of the Ostrich Koppies female. Seen only twice during the month and without her cubs. We are confident that the cubs are still alive as both times she was seen she was still heavy with milk. There is a suspicion that she has moved her cubs into an impenetrable part of the Mwana Nonantshemeni donga. If this move allows her cubs to survive this time it will be to everyone’s delight even if we do not get to view the cubs growing up. It is just hoped that she will be able to raise some cubs to independency.

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October 2010

OSTRICH KOPPIES FEMALE 6 YEARS
2 CUBS 2 MONTHS
EASTERN MARTHLY, EYREFIELD
(1 sighting; 9 sightings of female and cubs; 7 sightings of cubs alone)

New mom had a great month; she brought out her cubs for us to view and is very relaxed with them in our presence. She made several kills around the den site and very diligently returned to the cub’s everyday to feed and play with them, providing us with some of the most spectacular sightings of this exceptionally rare period in a leopard’s life. Towards the end of the month the cubs would come out of their rocky hiding places to watch the vehicles inquisitively completely fearless of us. Let’s hope they continue in this vain and that mom has more luck with her second litter than the first.

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September 2010

OSTRICH KOPPIES FEMALE 5 YEARS 11 MONTHS
2 CUBS 1 MONTH
EASTERN MARTHLY, EYREFIELD
(8 sightings; 2 sightings of female and cubs; 0 sightings of cubs alone)

The very first of the month this female gave birth. She was looking heavily pregnant at the end of August and by the 2nd she had given birth, that same day she killed a large male impala in the Mlowathi and rangers were hopeful she would take them back to her den site. On the 5th she showed us her den site at Thlebe rocks and on the 20th she showed us her new cubs for the first time. Two tiny fluff balls were seen peering out of a crack on Thlebe rocks and in the following days scampering around the rocks when mom called to them. This is the third set of leopard cubs for Mala Mala this year and amazingly at least some from each litter are still surviving. Let hope the Ostrich Koppies female has better with this litter than her first.

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August 2010

OSTRICH KOPPIES FEMALE 5 YEARS 10 MONTHS
EASTERN MARTHLY, EYREFIELD
(3 sightings)

This female has also been very elusive this month and on a whole the sightings have been brief. On one occasion the sighting was of great value when she was found with an impala kill; however there was not much left of the kill and by the next day she had moved off. She does however seem to be scenting south of our northern boundary again and hopefully she will move south more regularly now. Only time will tell.

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July 2010

OSTRICH KOPPIES FEMALE 5 YEARS 9 MONTHS
EASTERN MARTHLY, EYREFIELD
(3 sightings)

Two of the three sightings was when she made a duiker kill on our northern boundary and it was stolen by the Gowrie male, the next and only other sighting of her was when she was found trying to scavenge off of the impala kill that the Kikilezi female had made and was feeding on with her cub. Although she did get some food, she did not get a lot and did not stay in the area very long before making her way off of the property again. It is good to see that she is coming onto the property again and winter will draw her closer to her core territory and we hope to see a lot more of her later in the winter.

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June 2010

OSTRICH KOPPIES FEMALE 5 YEARS 8 MONTHS
EASTERN MARTHLY, EYREFIELD
(3 sightings)

This female has only been seen three times this month, which is up on last month’s sightings, she too seems to be moving mostly to the north in the White cloth females territory which has probably moved the White Cloth female further north and east and thus the reason for us not seeing her anymore. She has been seen at Mlowathi dam on all three occasion, normally coming down to the dam for a drink and then moving south down the Mlowathi scenting before looping back north. She shows no signs of being pregnant after we saw her mating but only time will tell us what her movements will be with regards to her territory and if she did conceive.

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May 2010

OSTRICH KOPPIES FEMALE 5 YEARS 7 MONTHS
EASTERN MARTHLY, EYREFIELD
(2 sightings)

She was only seen twice, both time had her moving around the Mlowathi looking to hunt. On both occasions she wasn’t successful. She looked in great shape and was healthy, she also looked to be pregnant which is excellent news. Hopefully she picks a den site on Mala Mala and doesn’t move north like her mother did.

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April 2010

OSTRICH KOPPIES FEMALE 5 YEARS 6 MONTHS
EASTERN MARTHLY, EYREFIELD
(4 sightings)

Still relatively scarce this month, only four recorded sightings. It may be that she has done a big shift in her core territory. There were no sightings of her in the eastern part of her range, which extended as far east as the Matshapiri River. All four of the sightings were around Mlowathi dam, it may be that she has shifted her core territory northwards. A few of the sightings she was scent marking, showing that she does still have interest in the area. With winter looming ahead however it will become more clear as to whether she has undergone a shift in territory.

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March 2010

OSTRICH KOPPIES FEMALE 5 YEARS 5 MONTHS
EASTERN MARTHLY, EYREFIELD
(6 sightings)

She is starting to come back onto Mala Mala and seems to be moving back towards her old territory. We are surprised to see that she is not lactating after mating with the Emsagwen male. This could also be a reason for her returning to her old territory, in search of the Emsagwen male for mating. The sightings have been brief and at night but this relaxed female is always value and we hope that as winter approaches she will move into her old territory which is not only closer to the Emsagwen male for mating but also closer to the river for water and hunting in the dry winter months.

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Febuary 2010

OSTRICH KOPPIES FEMALE 5 YEARS 4 MONTHS
EASTERN MARTHLY, EYREFIELD
(3 sightings)

The three sightings of this female were very erratic and short lived. It seems like she might be on the move, she looks to be shifting her territory northwards, which is bad news for us as this is over our northern boundary. This shift would be a great tragedy as she is one of our most promising young females and her loss would leave a huge void on Eyrefield.

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January 2010