Where is the Plaque Rock female denning her cubs? – Londolozi Blog

It’s an extremely exciting time for us rangers and trackers here at Londolozi and the race is on! Just over a week ago, the Plaque Rock Female was found, and it was upon closer inspection that she is believed to have given birth to her third litter of cubs. The tell tale signs that have led to this conclusion were the very evident suckle marks and a prominent milk pouch on her belly.

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

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Earlier this year the Plaque Rock female had her second known litter of cubs but they were unfortunately lost as raising leopard cubs is no easy task, with a mother leopard being successful only about 20 – 40% of the time. We are hopeful that now with a litter more experience under her belt as a mother, she will make use of some good den sites and will raise at least one cub to independence.

Here is a look at her previous litter of cubs as they suckle at a den.

Not long ago, on more than one occasion, the Plaque Rock Female was seen mating with the Maxim’s Male. Being the dominant male over the area in which the Plaque Rock Female has established her territory, mating between these two is expected. As a strategy to safeguard their cubs, female leopards tend to also mate with the surrounding dominant males, this is done in an effort to convince all the males that the cubs are theirs. We are not entirely sure which other males she mated with, but we do know for certain that she mated with the Maxim’s Male. For more information on the actual mating process of leopards, read a previous blog written by Kirst Joscelyne.

The Maxims male on the move.

Fairly skittish male that is presumed to have come from the Kruger National Park.

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When we think of what is an ideal leopard den, a cluster of boulders, deep drainage lines, and thick vegetation, the Plaque Rock Female has a perfect territory in which to raise cubs, as her territory sits just to the east of camps along the Sand River. Sightings of her can be few and far between as she does tend to spend a lot of time in the river itself. Besides the denning opportunities in the river, there are very opportune drainage lines just south of the river with very thick vegetation and great rocky sections with lots of nooks and crannies in which the cubs can hide. In fact, she used one of these drainage lines for her last litter of cubs.

Finding the Plaque Rock Female at Plaque Rock on the very rocks in which her name is derived from.

Leopards are known to reuse old den sites, so as a guiding team, we have been sure to check the previous spots she used to no avail yet. Despite the roads in this area being extensively driven since we saw the obvious suckle marks. There is nothing more exhilarating and humbling than seeing a young leopard in the first few weeks or months of its life.

Although nobody will admit it, there is a definite silent competition within the guiding team at the moment to see who will be the first to find the den site. Stay tuned as we will be sure to update you, hopefully soon, as to when we finally lay eyes on the Plaque Rock Female’s litter of cubs.