Update on the Mashaba Female Leopard – Londolozi Blog

Since Ranger Kate Arthur’s recent blog titled “Respect for the Elders: the Original Mhangeni Lionesses“, I felt it only fitting to put out an update and check in with Londolozi’s oldest living leopard, the Mashaba Female. Especially after having seen her recently and getting to spend a bit of time with her.

Out of the leopards that currently roam the Londolozi Reserve, the Mashaba Female is undoubtedly the most well-known. Her success as a mother leopard in having raised both the Nkoveni and Ximungwe fFmales has materialized over 10 years of the most incredible leopard viewing across Londolozi.

This scene excites many as mid-winter fast approaches, a misty morning with beautiful winter sunrises from a crest.

A few mornings ago we set off to go and explore the most southern parts of the reserve, the “deep south”, as we rangers and trackers like to say. It’s always great when you can get all the way down there fairly quickly, and then start exploring while the wintery mornings are still fresh and cool.

Whilst approaching a large waterhole, we caught a brief glimpse of the white tip of a leopard’s tail disappearing around a small bush. It was only seconds later that the leopard reappeared from the other side, paused for a moment to look at us, and then continued on down the road. It was the Mashaba Female.

Seeing her is always so special because sightings of her are usually quite infrequent nowadays. She used to be a constant presence just south of our camps many years ago. It’s been difficult to keep track of her as she is not strongly territorial anymore. I would imagine that she is on the receiving end of much pressure from younger females around the area. One thing for certain is that she knows the Londolozi Reserve extremely well, and therefore having to move around to accommodate pressures from other females is not a problem for her. For the most part, however, she is still occupying the most southern parts of the reserve and very often ventures well south of our southern boundary.

A recent sighting of the Mashaba Female, who ascended a tall marula tree to evade a hyena who was looking for any scraps from her impala kill.

Whilst following her, we often got opportunities to loop around her and position ourselves up ahead to view her walking right past us. Considering that she is now in her twilight years at 16 years of age, she is still in great condition and showing no signs of any serious injuries.

She walked through a small section of rocks that had been exposed to the sun for a couple hours and must have been warm. She lay down amidst the small boulders, rolled around and sunned herself. A playful, half-hearted attempt to chase off a wandering Natal Spurfowl reminded us that the soul stays young forever, and it is only our ‘bodysuits’ that will eventually wear out with time.

The Mashaba Female sitting atop a nearby termite mound. It’s always special to witness a leopard almost at eye level with the vehicle.

As she lay down and rested for a few moments, a short series of yawns revealed that even her teeth were mostly sharp and in good condition and were not worn down to any considerable extent.

I think that she will be able to have another litter of cubs, but it is difficult to predict whether or not she will be able to successfully raise them to independence. The current dynamics with her not having a stable territory will put the cubs at a higher risk of being involved in territorial conflict with other females or encountering males who don’t assume paternity over them. Another litter of cubs will mean that she will need to remain in peak physical condition for at least another one and a half to two years from now, considering the length of time it will take for most cubs to become successfully independent.

A cub from a litter in 2022. As cubs age, so the demand they place on their mothers increases. Mothers will need to hunt for themselves, as well as their ravenous little youngsters.

Constantly being subject to the trials and tribulations of life in the wild, it can be said that sometimes no news is good news. And with that, there is not much to report on regarding the Mashaba Female aside from our usual remarks of how well she’s doing for her age. Each sighting of her offers a glimpse into her storied past and the incredible legacy of Londolozi leopards she’ll one day leave behind.

The Legendary Mashaba Female in her prime.