December 2011
MATSHIPIRI FEMALE 11 YEARS 2 MONTHS
2 CUBS AGE ?
EASTERN MALA MALA, EASTERN EYREFIELD
(1 sighting of female, 0 sightings of female and cub, 1 sighting of cubs alone)
A very exciting month for this seldom seen female of the east. Just after Christmas one of the rangers found tracks of a female leopard in the Hogvaal donga. Shortly afterwards she was found and looked to be lactating, so the area was restricted and rangers then had to follow our strict procedures before entering the donga. A few days later we were rewarded with a very rare sighting of very young leopard cubs in the rocks just east of where she had been found initially. At this young age it is uncertain as to what their chances of survival are, so we will just have to wait and see what the next few months hold in store for this clever and sly old female.
November 2011
MATSHIPIRI FEMALE 11 YEARS 1 MONTH
EASTERN MALA MALA, EASTERN EYREFIELD (0 sightings)
There were no sightings of this leopard for the report period.
October 2011
MATSHIPIRI FEMALE 11 YEARS
EASTERN MALA MALA, EASTERN EYREFIELD (0 sightings)
September 2011
MATSHIPIRI FEMALE 10 YEARS 11 MONTHS
EASTERN MALA MALA, EASTERN EYREFIELD (3 sightings)
Usually this time of year has always been the most productive month of sightings of this female. Her most favourite haunts in the past have been around the Emsagwen waterhole. The waterhole has had good sightings of prey species and rhino, but very little in the way of predators. The three sightings we had of her were along the Matshipiri River, but where she is spending most of her time is not known.
August 2011
MATSHIPIRI FEMALE 10 YEARS 10 MONTHS
EASTERN MALA MALA, EASTERN EYREFIELD (3 sightings)
Every time this female falls pregnant she becomes elusive. Over the last few weeks we have suspected her to be pregnant, and accordingly, sightings of her have dropped. We did manage to get three looks at her this month, although none of them could confirm if she was either pregnant or lactating. Let's hope that if she does give birth soon it's at least in a location where we can see the cubs. Not only from a unique game viewing perspective, but also so the cubs can grow up in a relaxed environment where they are not afraid of the vehicles.
July 2011
MATSHIPIRI FEMALE 10 YEARS 9 MONTHS
EASTERN MALA MALA, EASTERN EYREFIELD (2 sightings)
It remains to be seen whether she will have another litter now that her son is finally independent. The bulk of her territory is within the Kruger National Park, but as the dry season enters that crucial time when most of the waterholes start drying up, a lot of animals will be drawn to the Emsagwen waterhole. In previous years it has provided many good sightings of this female, as she is drawn to the last bit of water in her territory.
June 2011
MATSHIPIRI FEMALE 10 YEARS 8 MONTHS
EASTERN MALA MALA, EASTERN EYREFIELD
(0 sightings)
May 2011
MATSHIPIRI FEMALE 10 YEARS 7 MONTHS
EASTERN MALAMALA, EASTERN EYREFIELD
(1 sightings)
There was only one sighing of this beautiful female during the month. She was spotted hunting some impala and warthog around Wild Dog Rock open area, and although her endeavours proved unsuccessful she looked to be in fine shape. One wonders why we aren't seeing her as much as we used to. There is some speculation that she might be pregnant, but we have yet to confirm this. Whatever the reason is, we hope that in the future we get to see more of her.
April 2011
MATSHIPIRI FEMALE 10 YEARS 6 MONTHS
EASTERN MALA MALA, EASTERN EYREFIELD
(0 sightings)
There were no sightings of the female during the month.
March 2011
MATSHIPIRI FEMALE 10 YEARS 5 MONTHS
1 MALE CUB 2 YEARS 8 MONTHS
EASTERN MALA MALA, EASTERN EYREFIELD
(3sighting of female alone, 1sighting of female with her son, 2 sighting of son alone)
It looks like the bonds between these two have finally been severed. At the beginning of March we spotted them together but after that first sighting they have been separated. The Matshipiri female has been seen around buffalo bush dam and Emsagwen while her son was seen alone twice at Clarendon, once interestingly trying to hunt amongst a large herd of buffalo. Lets hope the bond indeed has been severed and the Matshipiri female can get on with her life and produce yet another successful litter.
February 2011
MATSHIPIRI FEMALE 10 YEARS 4 MONTHS
1 MALE CUB 2 YEARS 7 MONTHS
EASTERN MALA MALA, EASTERN EYREFIELD
(1 sighting of female alone, 1 sighting of female with cub, 1 sighting of cub alone)
This was a very quiet report period of these two leopards with only three sightings compared to last months twelve sightings. They were found on all three occasions along the Matshipiri river between Matshipiri Dam and Buffalo Bush Dam. The fact that they were viewed so few times this month may well be due to the presence of the two No ID lionesses and their four cubs in the vicinity. Leopards will try and avoid lions in order to prevent getting involved in a potentially fatal altercation. These lions seem to have settled along the Matshipiri river and were seen on many occasions at Buffalo Bush Dam, essentially the centre of the Matshipiri females territory. On the one occasion when the Matshipiri female was seen without her son it was clear that she was looking for him as she was constantly calling indicating that he is still dependant on his mother, however these calls were not answered which may suggest that he was some distance away.
January 2011
MATSHIPIRI FEMALE 10 YEARS 2 MONTHS
1 MALE CUB 2 YEARS 5 MONTHS
EASTERN MALA MALA, EASTERN EYREFIELD
( 2 sightings of female alone, 5 sighting of female with cub, 5 sightings of cub alone)
A good month of sightings again for this pair and no surprises this month as the young male is still very reliant of month and does not seem to have the usual genetic code other males have, which causes them to disperse away from their natal range. The young male still shows signs of nervousness around the Land Rovers. An amazing sighting of these two leopards were seen after the mother had caught an African Rock Python, which the two proceeded to then have a tug of war with it.
