LEOPARDS - in Nkorho and Elephant Plains Area

Some "Interesting Facts" about Leopards

• Weight of an adult can range in the area of 35-65 kg (77-145 lbs) *for an "average" sized leopard*
• Height can range in the area of 60-70 cm (24-28 inches) *for an "average" sized leopard*
• Potential Lifespan - 10 yrs. but some can live to be quite a bit older
• Mating - can last 3 to 5 days
• Gestation Period - 90 to 110 days
• Offspring/Litters - are usually 2 cubs, but can be 3 and a rare 4
• Weaning of Cubs - usually around 6-12 weeks of age
• Mother separates from cubs - usually around 18 months, but can be longer
• Female's territory range -
• Male's territory range -
• Scent Marking -

*** This is a work in progress, so please bear with me as I may make some changes along the way in adding info. Thanks

Let's get started with the Male Leopards that we have seen or read about.....

Name: Mufufunyane (Mufufunyana/Mafufunyane and others) *Nickname* Muff Daddy

Age: In range of 11.5 to 12 yrs. as of 3/09

Name Means: Aggressive One or Angry One

Parents: Unknown at this time

Siblings: Unknown at this time

Distinguishing Features: short rounded face, very stocky even for his age, has a mark on his left shoulder with spots form a smiley pic here

Other interesting info: It is reported that he often allows his female offspring to join him on feedings and while he patrols his area.

*******

Name: Newington Male *Nickname* Pink Nose

Age: Born in September 1998 - 10 yrs. 6 mos. as of 3/09

Name Means: Was never given his own name, but named after his mother and territory she held. His nickname was given to him because he had a rather Pink Nose when he was younger.

Parents: The Newington Female(MM) also called 3:4 Female (92 - still alive) of Londolozi & Short Tail Male(he was killed by lions in July '04)

Siblings: Twin Sister is called Dudley Riverbank Female in Londolozi and also thought to be The Beaumont Female of Mala Mala

Distinguishing Features: His nose is a pinkish color

Other interesting info: Newington is the younger brother of Xivati, which was a very well known leopard in his prime along with his sister, Nottens Female. His mother 3:4 Female along with his Grandmother "Tugwaan" (4/84 - end of 2000) are both very interesting females. Tugwaan lived to be 16+ yrs. old, she died 1 year after giving birth to her last cub. His Great Grandmother is the very well known Manana (first seen in 1978 - died in 1991) who was also known as "The Mother".

*******

Name: Ncila (N'Chila/Nzila/Inthula)

Age: Born in early April 2003 - 6 yrs. as of 3/09

Name Means: Tail

Parents: Mother - White Cloth & The Newington Male

Siblings: Littermate(sister) disappeared in Nov. 2003 at age of 5 mos.
Matshipiri Female(born in 2000 - 7 1\2 yrs.) and her twin brother that his whereabouts are unknown since he was about 26 mos. old at end of 2002, when his mother sent him out on his own.

Brother - Son of White Cloth also known as Nghwazi was killed at the age of 18 mos on June 29, 2007 by the Styx Pride in Chitwa Chitwa. His littermate(sister) disappeared some time in July/August of 2006 at the age of 8 mos.

Distinguishing Features: Easily identified by a kink in the lower part of his tail from an injury when he was 3 mos. old.

Other interesting info:

*******

Name: Tyson (was originally called The EP Leopard)

Age: Estimated to be around 7 yrs. old as of 3/09

Name Means: Named after fighter Mike "Tyson" after a fight with Mufufunyane

Parents: Unknown - he first showed up in EP Area in April 2007

Siblings: Unknown

Distinguishing Features: Larger than average in size

Other interesting info:

*******

Name: Jordaan's Male

Age: possibly between 6 - 8 yrs. old as of 3/09

Name Means: Named for area he traversed in

Parents: Unknown

Siblings: Unknown

Distinguishing Features: Very large in size; lighter colored coat; forehead protrudes out and he is described as not being very attractive looking. Holds his tail in the form of a question mark.

***Possibly the same leopard that first appeared and reported by Simbambili on August 2, 2005. Was described as a huge male leopard having a large head with a short stubby face.

Other interesting info: He is very skittish and not seen very often unfortunately.

*******

Name: Matimba

Age: Born December 2005 - 3 yrs. 3 mos. as of 3/09

Name Means: Power

Parents: Safari & Mufufunyane

Siblings: Littermate was a female named Mbali(found dead from possible snake bite on Dec. 29, 2007)

Sisters - Karula and Tshemba(moved in to Manyeleti in late 2005)

*** His mother Safari Female has had many other litters, will hopefully share later as I get the info on them sorted out.

Distinguishing Features:

Other interesting info: Learning to hunt on his own, but is taking many bizarre chances in stalking Buffalo and baby Elephants "that are standing close to their mothers". He has also been seen running and jumping in waterholes trying to catch fish or something else.

* Matima is now independant and has been seen in Manyeleti trying to establish territory as of 2/09

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Female Leopards in the Nkorho and EP Areas that we may see or read about.....

Name: Safari

Age: Estimated to be about 15.5 - 16 yrs. old as of 3/09

Name Means: "Journey in Swahili" also named for area she hung around

Parents: Unknown

Siblings: Unknown

Distinguishing Features: She is blind in her right eye from a fight with Mufufunyane. This has not slowed her down at all, as she killed a Duiker the day she lost sight in her eye and a Kudu the next day.

Litters reported to have had: Researching and sorting through all of the findings now, will share soon.

2 - Males born in...

2 - 6 weeks old cubs killed by a Python in...

2 - Males called Shadow and Light

2 - Females - Karula and Tshemba

1 Male & 1 Female - Matimba and Mbali

Other interesting info:

*******

Name: White Cloth

Age: Est. to be born September 1993 - 15 yrs. 6 mos. as of 3/09

Name Means: Named after area she held territory in

Parents: Unknown

Siblings: Kapen Female of Mala Mala

Distinguishing Features: coat is yellowish in color and she is quite stocky for a female

Litters reported to have had: 5

January 2000 - brief mention of a 2.5 year old Son in Mala Mala. That son was said to have been fathered by The Rock Drift Male.

Mid October 2000 (fathered by Rock Drift Male) - male and female

Both sub-adult cubs were abandoned at 25 mos. 2 wks.

Male - no further info is known on him.

The Female is The Matshipiri Female, she still holds territory in Mala Mala and is 7 yrs. 6 mos. in April 2008.

April 2003 (fathered by The Newington Male) - Male and a Female cub - Ncila (N'chila/Nzila/Inthula) is still alive and the female disappeared in November 2003 at age of 8 mos.

Late January to Early February 2006 (possibly fathered by The Newington Male) - Nghwazi (was also called Son of White Cloth) and a female cub. The female cub disappeared in July/August of 2006 at the age of around 5 mos.

Nghwazi was killed by the Styx Pride on June 29, 2007 on Chitwa Chitwa. He was 18 mos. old.

* Most recent - 1 cub born around mid to late Dec. 09

Other interesting info: she is an extremely relaxed female

*******

Name: Karula (Kurula/Kurhula) also called K'Lo

Age: Born March 15, 2004 - 5 yrs. as of 3/09

Name Means: Relaxed One

Parents: Safari and Mufufunyane

Siblings: Littermate - Tshemba
***It was reported towards the end of June of 2006 that Tshemba went far in to Manyeleti. No further reports were found on her unfortunately.

Distinguishing Features: has a triangle shaped pattern of spots on left side of mouth and on forehead the spot pattern of WoW

Litters reported to have had: 2

January - February 2007 - 2 Female cubs. They were found by Djuma Rangers on February 22 hidden in a termite mound and described to be tiny at the time.

*** These 2 females are really growing in to 2 beautiful females. One is more relaxed and hangs closer to her mother, she has been nicknamed "Saseka - meaning Beauty" by some in Djuma area. The other one is very shy and pretty much keeps to her self. She has been nicknamed "Tingana - meaning Shy One"

* Updated on 3/12/09 - These 2 were officially named a few months back as Thandi (Saseka) and Tingana (Shadow)

* Karula had a 2nd set of cubs back in Nov. - Dec. of 2008, they are around 4 mos. old as of 3/09

Other interesting info: To be such a young mother, she has proven to be an excellent one. She is also extremely comfortable around vehichles and seems to trust them being around her cubs even when they are very young.

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Name: Ripape Female (Campbell Koppies Daughter known as Stripe in Mala Mala)

Age: 3 yrs. 6 mos. in April '08

Name Means: She was named after the Ripape Riverbed in front of Nkorho Lodge area

Parents: Campell Koppies Female(Ntima from EP) & "possibly" Newington Male

Siblings: Twin sister called YO of Mala Mala

Distinguishing Features: has a prominent row(stripe) of spots that runs back from her right eye

Litters reported to have had: none

Other interesting info:

*******

Name: Saseka

Age: Estimated to be about 12 - 13 yrs. old

Name Means: "the beautiful one"

Parents: unknown

Siblings: unknown

Distinguishing Features:

Litters reported to have had: 4

2 - Males born in ??, they were named Matimba and Douglas(Duckless). Douglas left at 19 mos. and Matimba was looked after until he was 2.5 yrs. old.

1 Female - Nyeleti born Jan. 13-14, 2003

1 Female - Salayexe born April 3, 2005

2 cubs - born in Jan.-Feb. 2007 (trying to confirm, but I believe only 1 cub is surviving still)

Other interesting info: Saseka was first seen in Sept. 2000 during a fire burn when Rangers had spotted 2 cubs that they later found out belonged to her.

***Saseka has not been seen in the traversing area since around June/July of 2007. Hopefully she has moved in to another area and doing well.

*******

Name: Salaxeye

Age:

Name Means:

Parents:

Siblings:

Distinguishing Features:

Litters reported to have had:

Other interesting info:

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Name: Ntima (also known as Campbell Koppies Female in Mala Mala)

Age: *bit of difference in age estimates*

8 yrs. 6 mos. in April 2008 (according to MM)

Estimated to be around 6-7 yrs. (according to EP)

Name Means: *Black* due to her "black" facial markings

Parents: Ngoboswan Female of Mala Mala and

Siblings: Kikilezi Female of Mala Mala is a younger sister

Distinguishing Features:

Litters reported to have had: 1 - single cub

EP reports cub born on June 1, 2007

MM reports cubs is 5 mos. old in April 2008

Other interesting info:

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Name: Nyeleti

Age:

Name Means:

Parents:

Siblings:

Distinguishing Features:

Litters reported to have had:

Other interesting info:

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Name:

Age:

Name Means:

Parents:

Siblings:

Distinguishing Features:

Litters reported to have had:

Other interesting info:

*******

Name:

Age:

Name Means:

Parents:

Siblings:

Distinguishing Features:

Litters reported to have had:

Other interesting info:

*******

reserving this spot for intended use

reserving this spot for intended use

I really like this information! Thankx

Didn't notice this before Karen. Good compilation of info on the leopards. This was probably my favorite anecdote about our friend repape from last November down in Mala Mala:

Daughter of the Campbell Koppies female leopard (stripe) – 30 November 2007

After leaving the cheetahs late in the morning, rangers bumped into the daughter of the Campbell Koppies female moving east towards Claredon dam. En route, she spotted a large black mamba and proceeded to torment it. She did eventually lose interest and moved south towards the largest Jackalberry in the area, climbed the tree and rested. One hopes that she shows more respect towards these deadly snakes in the future. Importantly, leopards generally have a healthy respect of snakes, but at the same time are quite good at killing them. Often the demise of the African Rock Python is at the hands of the leopard, in fact her sister killed a huge African Rock Python in early November.

Oh yeah, one question about the database. It has Mafufenyane listed as Karula's father, I'm just curious where you got that information? I thought both Rexon and Pieter (on different WE drives) had said they thought Karula was conceived by Safari with the prior resident male before Mafufenyane took control?  

Hi Ron,
Thank you for sharing your favorite anecdote on Ripape Female.

As for Karula's Father recently being mentioned as possibly being Xivati. That was the first I had heard that mentioned to be honest with you. Now, as we know any thing is possible with the practice that these cats will do to attempt to protect their future cubs.

In our research, there were a few different occasions when Karula and her sister Tshemba were younger, that they were sharing kills and playing with their father, said to be Mufufunyane. This had been found at more than one different area's sightings report.
Now Safari did have 2 Male cubs before Karula and her sister that different areas reported were fathered by Xivati.

It's not always easy but we try and check info at more than one resource and as many as we can possibly find before repeating it or sharing with the rest of you.

It can get very confusing I will definitely admit that, so we are always trying to cross reference as much as possible.

Gotcha. I remember seeing something about Karula being fathered by Mafufenyane (maybe on the Simbambali site, I'm bad about remembering where I see everything and often have trouble finding it again) so I e-mailed during one of Pieter's drives, mainly because I was curious about the possible inbreeding of Karula's current cubs. I think someone else asked Rexon the same thing last week. It seems like there often isn't much communication or information sharing betwen the lodges on the animals that traverse multiple locations, and I often get the idea that they make educated guesses regarding the histories of certain animals that occur on neighboring properties prior to them coming to their specific areas.

Hi Karen, great work! Mafufunyane has a mark on his left shoulder, his spots form a smiley!

Look here

I will make a copy of that pic, marking the smiley, once you know where it is, you can't miss it.

Hi Cerinthe, I dont see the smiley...:-(   guess I need your marked copy   ....

To make it even more interesting ...My first pic of Mafufanyan is on 4 jan 2004 and the last of Xivati on 27 November of 2003 ...There were several sighthings of female Safari those months ...at the old Africam ...he he ...I think only Safari knows who is the father of karula LOL!!!

Edited !!!

and if you search at the rangers diaries it looks like Mafufanyane was already at the area in the middle of December ...so ...

Edited 2

I'm sorry those tired eyes did the mistake ...i confused the years ..the last pic of Xivati was on May 2003 not on November

Confusing eh Fani? LOL From reports we have found, Mufufunyane first came up into Xivati's territory in 2000. Initially he was nomadic and from the Southern Sabi Sands area. He was sporadically spotted on and off until April 2002 when he returned to the area with some frequency. His movements at first were restricted to the more Southern areas by Xivati and the Robson male.

Eventually, it was reported that he had ousted Xivati in April of 2003 though there were still sightings of Xivati in the area after that date. At the time of this report from Simbambili in April 2004, Mufufunyane had sired one daughter, Nyaleti, and it was suspected that Safari had recently given birth which would have been Karula and her sister.

Karula and her sister, Tshemba, were reported by several lodges to have been born in March of 2004 which coincides with the report above.

We can't find a confirmed date of Xivati being shot but the Drum Beat in June 2004 mentioned having to tell arriving guests the sad news that it was "thought" Xivati had been shot and killed. No date was given for the actual shooting nor have we (Karen and I) found any reports that it was indeed Xivati.

About the only thing that is for sure, Mufufunyane thinks Safari's cubs (Karula and Tshemba) are his offspring as he was seen interacting with them as youngsters on a number of occasions with no aggression towards them.

Here is the pic of Mafufenyane with the smiley.

Yes you are right Aquila ...and thanks ()...just looked again at pics and found that those tired eyes need new glasses ...I did a mistake ...the last pic of Xivati was on May of 2003 ...not on November ..And yes I remember now that they reported at the old boma that mafufanyane took Xivatis territory earlier of his death ...... At the end of 2003 the cam gave so bad pics that hardly you can tell who is who ... ...but I'm sure we haven't seen him again on cam that period...(I confused the years before)

It has taken a while with computer issues I have been having trying to access my saved research, but I wanted to share that I have added some more info to some of the leopards.

Hope you enjoy!

Here are 2 photos of Matimba I took near Elephant Plains last month.

Many thanks to both Cerinthe and Katja on sharing some of the photos that you were ever so lucky to capture while viewing these Cats live. Your help is greatly appreciated!

Sad news from Mala Mala, the sister of the Repape female, who seemed similarly charismatic from the reports I've read, was killed by the Styx pride back in January, although this was not confirmed until recently:

http://www.malamala.com/MM7/LEOP_campbell.htm

Repape is "stripe" in the Mala Mala reports.

Sorry to hear that Ron. I remember reading back about that time of a dead leopard that had been found and it was believed to have been killed by the Styx pride. Further inquires revealed it was too decomposed for identification. Maybe that was the same incident with the sister.

Yeah, I think that's the incident they were referring to. Very sad news, I remember being worried about both sisters at the time of that incident because of the location of the attack.

BTW, I posted the wrong link before, which was to the Campbell Koppies female instead of the daughters. This link provides the info on the deceased leopard:  

http://www.malamala.com/MM7/LEOP_campbellDaughters.htm

Thanks Ron, very sad news.

Also a bit confusing for me, especially with all the different names to i.d. these leopards.

When I was at NK on 4 Aug, I saw White Cloth steal a kill from another leopard, id'd as Stripe, sister of Ripape. I checked with Jacques who told me ...

• The leopard known as Ripape at NK, is known at Mala Mala as Stripe.
• The leopard known as Stripe at NK, is known at Mala Mala as Mo Yo.

This ties in with your link Ron, in that Yo was the leopard killed by the Styx.

I have only one pic of the leopard id'd as "Stripe" (Yo),

I wonder how the dead leopard was finally id'd? Especially if the remains were too badly decomposed...

Update from EP

Tyson is the dominant male in the west and he is also the father of Nyeleti’s cubs. He is the male leopard we often view on the webcam in front of the lodge. Mafufunyana must be about eleven years old by now, but is still a dominant male, although he has moved to the east. Matimba is nearly three years old and is slowly moving eastward, exploring new areas to one day establish a territory to dominate. Mvula, roughly four years old, moves around the north east. He might even fight Mafufunyana for territory one day. We also saw Tumbela this month, but unfortunately, I have to report that he is not in the best physical condition. Safari, the oldest of the female leopards, mated with Mafufunyana this month and hopefully we will see some more cubs from our old faithful lady. Kurula and her cubs are still doing very well and tend to stay more in the east. Her cubs, Shadow and Thandi, are nearly 18 months old and are getting to the age where they will soon move away from Kurula. Ntima is looking as beautiful as always and her cub, now 16 months old is also looking fantastic. Nyeleti’s cubs are now four months old and look well fed and healthy. We have not yet been able to sex the cubs as we are still in the process of habituating the youngsters to the vehicles. Salayexe, almost four years old, have been mating with Tyson on quite a few occasions and should also have cubs soon. Nyeleti and Salayexe’s mom, Saseka, have moved far west after losing her cubs, but I heard that she has had new cubs since leaving our traversing area.

Source

Update from EP

November 2008

Unfortunately, I have some sad news: Nyeleti has lost one of her cubs. Tombela was seen close to the cubs a couple of days before and the very next day one of the cubs were missing. Nyeleti was contact calling the whole time, but to no avail. It was heart breaking! Two years ago, also around about the same time, Safari lost Mbali and two years prior to that, she lost both her cubs to a python. We hope that Nyeleti’s other cub will be safe from harm’s way. Tyson was seen mating with Salayexe on more than one occasion. We will keep you updated on their progress. Kurula’s cubs are well. Mafufunyana is getting old and is now receiving territorial pressure from all sides. But I believe that he is a fighter and that he will still be around for a while.

Special sighting:
Mafufunyana and Mvula had another territorial fight. It was very intense, with both leopards biting into each others throats. It was a sighting that made the hair on my arms stand up. Needless to say, the old man walked away in victory. I would suggest that Mvula waits at least another year or so before he thinks of taking on Mafufunyana again.

Source

For those interested, Tombela/Tumbela is the Newington Male aka Pink Nose according to other sources for this incident of the cub's death. Maybe Elephant Plains or Nkorho rangers could confirm this.

Hello all.

I have got an email from Emjay with a picture!

It seems that Karula has cubs ! ? and showed  them to the world!

i got this picture on email.

Karula introduced her two cubs 2 days ago, and has been seen regularly since.

Maybe I missed it somewhere in this long thread, but Saseka has a sister... Tingana.  They were both well and visual last year, but haven't been around lately. 

Posted by Bushie 29 January 2009

Safari and Mafufanyan - photo by penny2 

Safari walking past vehicle - photo by penny2

Matimba

Matimba is the son of Safari

Pictures taken in May 2008.

hi  as you can see from my screen name  what my favorites animals are.  the leopards are probably one of my favorites.

i wonder if you can answer  a couple of questions for me.

one i am surprised at all the info you have on the leopards.  i have heard in general one of the reasons leopards are doing so well compared to other big cats is they dont tend to like humans.  are you observatios from your sitings in general. 

i do love the pictures. 

question i dont know if you would know.  i dont know if this leopard was in this area.  i can remember where she is or was.

but i know of a leopard named half tail.  i had not heard about her in a  while.  and i think the last time i had heard of her they were metioning her in past tense terms.  did she pass on.??

 have a great day

Half-Tail is a female leopard who was featured in the Big Cat Diaries which were filmed in the Masai Mara, Kenya.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bigcat/animals/leopards/index.shtml