Pets
Exciting Afternoon With The Ntomi Male – Londolozi Blog
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The Ntomi Male is still doing well and recently provided us with an incredible afternoon’s sighting…
It was my first game drive with a new set of guests (a combination of experienced safari go-ers as well as first-timers). With this in mind, and knowing that the Ntomi Male had been briefly spotted that morning, we decided to head back into the area where he had been seen that morning in the hope that he would still be around.
Setting off with a similar idea, Ranger Chris Taylor and Nick Tennick joined in on the search, and within the first hour of being out, Nick radioed us to say the Ntomi Male had been spotted and was on the move!
A single cub of the Ximungwe Female’s second litter. Initially rather skittish but is very relaxed now. Birth mark in his left eye.
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With a graciousness and poise that is always somewhat majestic, we watched the Ntomi Male mill about in an open clearing. Completely relaxed with the vehicles, he spent a good while simply walking along the road, creating great photographic opportunities. He stopped every now and then with an intent to listen for any prospective prey nearby. He seemed hungry.
It is always such a privilege getting to experience these animals in such close proximity, and seemingly unaware of our presence.
While there was no obvious sign of any prey in sight, we continued to follow him until he veered off the road into some long grass. Seeming like a natural ending to the sighting, we were about to leave and find a place to stop to watch the sunset, when we heard the rustle and trot of a mother warthog and her piglets from behind our vehicle heading in our (and the leopard’s) direction.
Before I could even explain to the guests why Equaliser and I had decided to stay an extra five minutes and watch the warthog also disappear off into the long grass, the next thing we heard was a big commotion and distress calling from one of the piglets as the others scattered in all directions. The Ntomi Male had clearly heard the warthogs approaching too and instantly capitalized on his cover in the long grass before targeting one of the piglets!
Here the Nhlanguleni Female carries a recently killed warthog piglet. Especially in the summer, piglets are ‘easy’ prey for the likes of the opportunistic leopard.
In almost a state of disbelief at how quickly there had been a turn of events, we were suddenly enthralled in watching this male leopard suffocate his next meal before deciding to carry it a good 100m or so towards a nearby prominent tree atop a termite mound.
Ntomi Male resting in the shade of a Jackalberry Tree.
We were fortunate enough to watch him hoist the kill into the tree before finding a shady-covered branch to dangle his legs over, rest, and catch his breath.
It turned out to be an exhilarating afternoon of so many different exciting moments all bundled into one afternoon’s sighting!
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Kate Arthur
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