Where Is The Ximungwe Female Leopard Denning Her Cubs? – Londolozi Blog

As the festive season was in full swing, we Rangers and Trackers were hoping for a Christmas miracle… to find the Ximungwe Female’s den!

It’s been an exciting few months of more regular viewings of the Ximungwe Female. As described in a blog by Chris Taylor as well as a blog by Barry Bath from earlier in the year, 2023 turned out to be both a frustrating and exciting year tracking the Ximungwe Female’s whereabouts.

She still defends and dominates a territory covering the central parts of Londolozi. While the Senegal Bush Male still shares a large portion of this same area as part of his territory, the male leopard dynamics have shifted slightly over recent times, and in the second half of 2023, we saw the Ximungwe Female having more frequent contact with the Maxims Male.

Around three and a half months ago, the Three Rivers Young Male and Maxims Male were seen mating with the Ximungwe Female (first spotted altogether on the 29th of August). Ranger Robbie Ball wrote a blog describing this unique sighting that unfolded with all three leopards and how it ended up that father and son were seen mating with the same female! We also suspect that this may have been the first time the Three Rivers Young Male was mating, which is an exciting prospect in terms of the confidence and independence of this male leopard. Stay tuned for a further update on him in the blogs to follow!

Three Rivers Young Male mating with the Ximungwe Female.

Mating leopards is always an incredibly exciting and unique sighting to encounter. When leopards mate, extraction is the most dramatic period of mating as the sharp, barbed tip to the male’s penis can cause pain for both animals. Here the Ximungwe Female lashes out to try and swat him with her paws and claws. He anticipates this and leaps backwards out of her reach.

Fast forward to December 2023, roughly three and a half months after the images above (a leopard’s gestation period is approximately 90-105 days), and we are biting at the bit to discover where she may be denning her new litter of cubs.

Having successfully raised two male cubs to independence (the Mahlahla Male and Ntomi Male), the Ranger and Tracker teams have high hopes for her successfully raising a third litter to independence (fingers crossed!).

The Mahlahla Male was the first cub that the Ximungwe Female raised to independence.

Having been viewed by vehicles from an early age, this leopard is supremely relaxed around Land Rovers.

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An inquisitive young male that has been pushed further north by the Senegal Bush Male.

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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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Around the 13th of December, the Ximungwe Female was spotted heavily pregnant. Equalizer and I found her a few days later laying up in the grass at the base of a marula tree with a hoisted impala lamb kill. We could see she had very swollen teats, and we were amazed to see her belly twitching as her cubs were kicking.

Since then, as a team, we have been driving the central parts of Londolozi in search of any signs of her. Initially thinking that she may be denning around Three Street Donga, she has been seen a few more times with definite suckle marks further south around Nyamankunze Fourways and the Inyathini drainage, which makes us think she may be denning further south in her territory than we initially thought.

Time will tell when we find her den, so stay tuned, as we will be sure to update you, hopefully soon, as to when we finally lay eyes on the Ximungwe Female’s latest litter of cubs!