September 2010
TJELLAHANGA MALE +/- 11 YEARS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(3 sightings)
A sand and tragic end to one of Mala Mala most viewed leopards. The Tjellahanga male was found ripped to pieces on the morning of the 11th. He had been eaten by hyenas but thankfully was most likely dead before they found his body. A legend of the south his name will be remembered for many years and his genes will flow strong through futures generations of leopards here in the Sabi Sands.
His story at Mala Mala started in 2003 when he was a young male lurking around Mlowathi dam. He made a name for himself when he was found with a adult kudu kill and rangers kept an eye on his development. Slowly he worked his way south and in August 2004 he was named the Tjellahanga male. Fighting off competition from the Hlulurini male and later the Beaumont’s and bicycle crossing males he ruled supreme for almost seven years until finally fate and retribution caught up with him. Early in 2010 he sniffed out and killed one of the Charleston prides cubs then at the beginning of September he found another cub and killed it. The lioness returned to find him still feeding on the cubs and gave chase. Catching him half way up a Marula tree the lioness pulled him to earth and set about trying to kill him. He managed to escape but got severely mauled and wasn’t able to walk with deep wounds covering his flanks and rear. The last sighting rangers had of him was dragging himself to the river to drink before collapsing in the reeds. Who can forget his characteristic blue eye given to him by the Hlulurini male or his ragged ears done over years of hard living at the top of an empire that stretched the length and breadth of Charleston and Toulon.
R.I.P the Tjellahanga a legend of Mala Mala.
August 2010
TJELLAHANGA MALE +/- 11 YEARS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(11 sightings)
This mature male continues to dominate the southern parts of the Sand River. Sightings have been regular and of great quality in the south and he is always relaxed and provides great photo opportunities. This month he was again seen to be very opportunistic, stealing kills from a number of female leopards and even young male leopards. This is all part and parcel of being a large dominant male. He was also found scavenging on a hippo carcass before he was chased off by a Toulon male lion. As a whole he still seems to be holding his territory and does not look under threat by any means. There have been no sightings of his arch rival the Beaumont’s male for two months now, maybe with the pressure from the Bicycle Crossing male from the north, the Beaumont’s’ male might have moved off.
July 2010
TJELLAHANGA MALE +/- 10 YEARS 11 MONTHS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(15 sightings)
This male has made up the bulk of the leopard sightings in the south this month, although he is starting to get old he is still dominant along the lower reaches of the Sand River and he continues to demand respect. His age old competition, the Beaumont’s male seems to have gone into hiding and has not been seen at all this month and with the only other challenges being very young leopards who have just left their mother, he has no problems holding his territory and in most cases this month even stealing most of his food from the younger males and even from female leopards in his area. The only food he has been seen to catch himself this month were two scrub hares. However continues to dominate the south as well as the sightings and with winter in full effect we can expect to see more of him and then leopards in the south can expect him to steal more of their food.
June 2010
TJELLAHANGA MALE +/- 10 YEARS 10 MONTHS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(10 sightings)
Yet again this mature male has made up the bulk of the male leopard viewing in the southern parts of Mala Mala. He still holds the biggest territory in the south and seems to be keeping other males out of the area. The Beaumont’s male, his arch rival has not been seen this month and with the sightings of him becoming less and less it will not be surprising if the Tjellahanga male takes over this area as well. There were two male leopards seen fighting on what would be the border of the Tjellahanga males territory, so we will have to see what will develop if a new younger and maybe stronger male tried to establish territory this winter especially around the river.
May 2010
TJELLAHANGA MALE +/- 10 YEARS 9 MONTHS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(7 sightings)
The magnificent reign of the Tjellahanga male looks to be finally coming under some pressure, during the month an unidentified male was seen moving through central Toulon on many occasions and the Tjellahanga male did nothing to stop it. He’s held onto a vast territory for many years but with him nearing 11 years in age it looks like he is finally slowing down. How long can he hold on for or will he even face a challenge is yet to be answered? Only winter can give us the answers. One interesting sighting had him with an impala kill close to Kirkmans Kamp he fed off the carcass while less than a hundred meters up the road the KK female and her cub were being attacked by this new male. He must have heard the commotion but just kept feeding on the impala, perhaps this is a good indication of what’s to come.
April 2010
TJELLAHANGA MALE +/- 10 YEARS 7 MONTHS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(9 sightings)
This mature male still holds his territory in the southern parts of Mala Mala and provides great viewing. This month he was not responsible for any killings of lion cubs like last month but he has had a few encounters with other leopards at kills, although he has not fought with any of the leopards he has stolen kills and chased youngsters out of the area. He continues to patrol regularly and even though he does not have a very big territory he is very much in control of the area he holds and there have been no interactions with his rival the Beaumont’s male who seems to be avoiding this mature male.
March 2010
TJELLAHANGA MALE +/- 10 ½ YEARS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(12 sightings)
Of the twelve times that he was seen this month only about three times was he north of the river. This could be attributed to a number of reasons, either it is a simple case of finding him more often on the Toulon side or else there is a shift in his territory. If it is a shift in his territory then he is leaving or creating a very big gap in his territory, which will be very welcome for any young male trying to establish himself. Speaking in human terms he did the leopard population in the area a noble favour this month by killing off one of the Charleston prides cubs.
February 2010
TJELLAHANGA MALE +/- 10 ½ YEARS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
(11 sightings)
“The old man of the south”, yet there is seemingly no challenger to his dominance. He continues to patrol a vast territory stretching almost the entire length of Charleston and Toulon. With both the Jakkalsdraai and Rollercoaster females starting to push their respective cubs into independence he might even have one more opportunity to make sure his genes get past on. The shear dominance with which seems to rule is impressive and will be hard to break but lets see what happens when some of the young males floating around mature a bit more.
January 2010
TJELLAHANGA MALE +/- 10 YEARS
TOULON, SOUTHERN CHARLESTON
( sightings)
This male is back with a vengeance. In the last few months he has kept a low profile and rangers were starting to wonder if he was finally slowing down, but this month he has proved us all wrong. As the pans in central and eastern Charleston have brought back game into those areas so he has started patrolling there again. Or perhaps it could be due to pressure coming from a young male leopard or maybe he even perceives the bicycle crossing male as a distant threat. Either way it is nice to see him still in control and not going out without a fight.
There was one memorable sighting of this male in the middle of the month when he was found with the cub of the Jakkalsdraai female and the son of the kwela kwela female. all three males were in the vicinity of a female impala carcass that the Jakkalsdraai female had made, the two cubs were quick to clear out when the Tjellahanga male showed up but they remained close by and there was some spectacular interactions witnessed between all three.
