Finding the Plaque Rock Female’s Den, Yay… Then Tragedy Strikes! – Londolozi Blog

This blog post today comes with a seriously bittersweet taste in our mouths. Between this tremendously exciting discovery of the Plaque Rock Female’s den, writing this blog and now trying to publish it, we have some heartbreaking news to share with you. Please, grab a Kleenex, a strong dose of rescue remedy, and someone’s shoulder before reading the next sentence!

With tears in our eyes and sorrow in our hearts, we reluctantly need to break the news that the Plaque Rock Female was tragically killed by the Ndzhenga Males on Mala Mala a few mornings ago. We are just trying to come to grips with it and gather all the information, but stay tuned for more on this soon.

For those of you who, can and would like to continue reading, I will try to keep this as light and upbeat as possible, with some obvious and necessary tweaks to what I had originally written.

Over the last while, sightings of the Plaque Rock Female had been few and far between. Until about a couple weeks ago, she was seen with a milk pouch (loose skin around her abdomen) and fresh suckle marks which are brown hues around her teets. With the exciting prospect of her having a new litter, we set off in search of her over the next few days with the hope of confirming that she has a new litter and keeping them on Londolozi.

A large portion of the Plaque Rock Female’s territory extends into the inaccessible banks of the Sand River where she has denned her cubs in the past.

A pretty young playful female found along the river to the east of camp

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The first couple days there was still no sign of her – no tracks in her territory or any other indication she had recently been around. Until one late one evening, she was found near our camps relentlessly scent-marking and rasping. The next morning we decided to drive along the Sand River to the east of the Londolozi Camps, now well within the Plaque Rock Female’s territory and see if we could find her. With her territory extending into the Sand River and partially on Mala Mala, there were a number of spots along the banks of the river where she had denned in the past. To our delight, we found some fresh tracks of her south of the river, but heading away from the river. The wind was somewhat taken out of our sails, thinking that she was coming from her den and that it was likely somewhere in the river again.

Always an important part of a morning drive is finding fresh tracks of the animal you are searching for so that you have an idea of which direction to go.

It was still early in the morning and as the sun rose over the horizon and we came around a corner, there ahead of us in the distance was a leopard, the Plaque Rock Female, and the leopard we were now actively tracking. We followed her for some time as she scent-marked continuously until she headed towards a thick drainage line. Thinking she was now moving into the thicker vegetation to hunt, we remained hopeful that the morning would still hold some excitement. Moments later the Plaque Rock Female turned towards a nearby tree and chuffed.

Chuffing is a low-intensity vocalisation used when greeting another leopard. They force air through their nose and is used normally in friendly non-threatening encounters.

While waiting silently we barely heard the high-pitched squeak of what could only be a leopard cub coming from the tree next to her. The leaves began to move and moments later – this tiny blue-eyed leopard cub crept out from the long grass towards its patiently awaiting mother.

Our first glimpse at this tiny cub as it carefully made its way through the long grass just after first light

An overwhelming sense of emotions set in as we got to witness this mother care for and groom her tiny cub. This was then followed by playful moments as the Plaque Rock Female began to play with her tiny cub. The most magical thing to witness.

Very playful interaction between the Plaque Rock Female and cub before she began to groom it.

The morning sun rose and offered for this tender moment as the Plaque Rock Female groomed her cub before it went to suckle.

At this young age, this cub is reliant only on the milk from its mother.

Witnessing such a tender moment between the Plaque Rock Female and her cub was a profound privilege. The beauty of their bond was mesmerizing, a glimpse into the raw, unfiltered intimacy of nature. As we watched her groom and play with her tiny cub, it was clear how vital and vibrant life can be in the wild.

The tragic news of her untimely death is a stark reminder of the fragility of life. While we celebrate the discovery of her den and the incredible view we had on this particular morning, we also mourn her loss deeply. She was an amazing leopard to view and one that we held close to our hearts. Over and above this tragic news lay the unbearable fact of certain death for the cub. However, the only light in this sad story is that on the same day that the Plaque Rock Female was killed, a few tufts of leopard cub fur were found at the den, indicating that something had found the cub and it would not suffer.

Stay tuned for another update as soon as we dedicate a tribute to this amazing leopard.