In Part 1 of “It’s all about the Leopards” I covered our resident males in Sabi Sabi. In this blog, Part 2, I will cover the resident females.

Nottins female

There’s hardly a time when Nottins provides guests with an average sighting. She might be one of the oldest leopards in the area, but she remains a beautiful leopard, and one which is definitely not shy around vehicles. Over the years she has gained the trust of these big green objects with its occupants. Therefore, she remains the favourite leopard of many of our guides, and whenever she is found, we can with almost 100% certainty say that she will not disappear at the sight of incoming vehicles like some of our other leopards.

Although her age is catching up with her, she has managed to raise her cub past 8 months of age, which in itself is a feat for any leopard due to the high mortality rate of cubs. She and her cub can often be found near Selati Camp and the surrounding areas close to the Msuthlu River, where there is an abundance of small to medium antelope for her to catch and feed her ever growing cub.

Warthog Wallow female

Many guests who have stayed at Bush Lodge can say that they did not have to venture far to see a leopard. The Warthog Wallow female is well known for taking a stroll through the lodge and even stopping for a quick drink at the water feature. I remember the time when we were all sitting for dinner and somebody shouted “LEOPARD”, and everyone looked towards the deck, and there she was boldly walking not more than 15 metres from everyone. If she is not seen in the lodge, she will usually be found hunting prey, usually impala, on one of the many open areas around Bush Lodge. I have witnessed her hunt many times at night in open areas, with quite a high success rate. Her hunting ability and success rate has meant that she has raised her son, the Tortilis male, to independence, although now and then we see them sharing a kill. Warthog Wallow has also done a great job in protecting the young Tortilis male because part of her territory falls within Maxabeni’s territory, and Maxabeni is not the father of Tortilis (fathered by the Mahlathini male).

Little Bush female

As her name suggests, the Little Bush female can be found in close proximity to Little Bush Camp. She has even denned right in front of the lodge pool, and every now and again staff and guests would get a glimpse of this very elusive female and her cubs (now reduced to only one cub). From all the leopards I have encountered here at Sabi Sabi, the Little Bush female is definitely the feistiest of them all. She would often growl at vehicles and mock charge the trackers. She is also one that we don’t often see, even though we find fresh tracks of her on a near daily basis. It’s just in here nature, very secretive and when she does not want to be seen, you will not see her. She is just a typical leopard that follows what textbooks say about the behaviour of leopards. It also seems that her one surviving cub is following suit. The only time you would really be able to spend some quality time with the two of them is when you are luckily enough to find both of them lounging up a tree. That’s the only time they would not bother about the vehicles presence.

Lisbon female

The Lisbon female has for long been the dominant force in our Southern property, around Earth Lodge, providing guests with excellent sightings of her. She has also become a favourite to some our guides, just like the Nottins female, because of her relaxed attitude towards vehicles. Although she is spotted quite often, I have a bit of bad luck with this female and have only seen her a few times. The times that I did get too see her is when I realised why some guides prefer her over Nottins. She is always up to something, whether it being hunting cane rats by a dam for over 2 hours or hunting during broad daylight. I even witnessed her chasing after the Mandleve male for over an hour and a half. Whenever she closed the gap between herself and Mandleve, he would scamper off and she would slowly follow. Nobody knows why he was running away because just a week before he was found mating with her. Maybe he had had enough of her or is unsure what to do next because he is still relatively young. Hopefully we will get to see some cubs soon and watch them grow to independence.

White Dam female

The White Dam female exposes herself every now and then on the far Eastern side of the reserve, with her territory mainly forming part of the neighbours property. She is quite shy and would often be found walking through very thick vegetation. The only time that she was really at ease was whenever we found her mating with the Maxabeni male. During those times she would follow him on the road and even relax with him in some open areas. The most surprising thing that happened during the time that they were mating was that she had followed Maxabeni through Nottins’ territory and all the way West into the Little Bush female’s territory. When they were done mating, she would return East and once again became very elusive. Recent sightings of her suggest that she has cubs, and we hope to get a glimpse of her little bundle(s) of joy soon.

Kelenge female

The Kelenge female has recently become independent from her mom, the Outcrop female, a leopard that we don’t often see anymore. Kelenge has to be the most beautiful leopard I have ever seen, with the most striking eyes and long whiskers. At times she can be a bit on the shy side, and from time to time she will pose on termite mounds or rocks and flaunt her beauty. The name Kelenge originates from the area where this female can usually be found, Kelenge Dam. The only problem with this area is that it falls within the Lisbon female’s territory, and we have once witnessed a stand-off between the two females. Often both females are also spotted in close proximity from each other and this could spell disaster soon for one of them. Will it be the old and experienced Lisbon female that will initiate the fight, or will it be the young Kelenge female wanting to kick out the Lisbon female?