Leopard Directory

[Tshokwane]

This is a post that I wanted to make for a long time now, but sometimes being busy with work or when I did have time, with the updates about the lions, I always ended up leaving it for later.

It's about one of my favourite leopards, the son of the Short tail/ Bicycle crossing male posted in the first page.

This is the Airstrip male, also known as Dudley Riverbank 5:5 male by Londolozi.

*This image is copyright of its original author

This is his spot pattern.

*This image is copyright of its original author

And this is his lineage, also by Mala Mala:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Info by Mala Mala:
In June 2006, the Dudley female gave birth to a litter of two male cubs. When the cubs were still young, they – and their mother – were feeding at a kill, which was sniffed out by hyenas. Confusion ensued, and the cubs were separated from their mother. The Dudley female managed to locate one of her cubs and she successfully raised him to independence. He is now known as the Charleston male, and is territorial in the southern parts of the property. The Newington female, the grandmother of these two cubs, happened to be in the vicinity when the cubs were lost, and coincidentally had also just lost a cub of her own. The Newington female called gently for her missing cub, and the remaining cub of the Dudley female responded to her calls. This cub was then adopted by his grandmother, and also survived to independence and became known as the Airstrip male. This is a set of remarkable circumstances, and we are not aware of a similar event being recorded.
Here's Airstrip with his nonna, who raised him to adulthood.

*This image is copyright of its original author

From humble beginnings around the runway, the Airstrip male began to expand his domain as he matured. He is by no means a big male leopard. Short and stocky, what he lacks in size is easily made up for with his courage. Upon engaging in his task of expansion, he would have to be wary of other male leopards in the area. Upon engaging in his task of expansion, he would have to be wary of other male leopards in the area. His father, the legendary Bicycle Crossing male had already started to age, and shifted his territory further south in response to pressure from his son and the Princess Alice Pans male,who is a large specimen residing further to the west. Against the odds, the Airstrip male was able to intimidate the much bigger Princess Alice Pans male, and the big male retreated. As a sign of his rising dominance, the Airstrip male was then seen mating with the Western female who had preferred the Princess Alice Pans male on many occasions in the past.  The threat to the east possibly presented his greatest challenge. This came in the form of the Emsagwen male. Also a large male, he was an influence pushing the Bicycle Crossing male south. In an unexpected turn of events, the Emsagwen male disappeared in the winter of 2011. He was a mature male controlling a large territory, and we can only speculate as to how he was killed. His disappearance meant that there were now large tracts of land up for grabs. The Airstrip male was on hand to reap the benefits. It was incredible to watch as the Airstrip male marched along the exact same routes along which the Emsagwen male used to travel.


He was now in control of an enormous empire. From the Airstrip and for many miles westwards, to Marthly, the Mlowathi and as far east as Emsagwen, the male was now well in control. After a few weeks he began to change his territorial routes, and he abandoned a portion of his new kingdom. This was perhaps a smart move. Male leopards will try and control as big an area as the individual can effectively control, limited only by his ability to cover ground and dominate other males he may come into contact with. The result of establishing a large territory means that it will incorporate the territories of many females, which has obvious benefits for the male. The areas that the Airstrip male neglected to include are mainly to the north and east. He no longer visits the areas anywhere north of the Gowrie boundary, both areas that were under the control of the Emsagwen male. In August this year the male has had a new threat to his kingdom from ‘Tyson’, otherwise known as the ‘Marthly male’, a huge leopard from the north that is venturing south into the core areas of the Airstrip male’s territory. The Gowrie male, who operates around the Mlowathi River, is also a potential threat, but so far the Airstrip male has managed to keep both at bay.

And this is a trademark for him. Since he became independent, he's had to battle with different males, most of which are much bigger than him, like the legends Camp Pan(one of the biggest leopards in the Sabi Sands, said to weight something close of 90 kg) and the Marthly male/ Tyson. 
Battles vs Tyson were not an easy thing, and they took its toll.

*This image is copyright of its original author

You always hear that leopards don't like to fight, that they avoid physical contact so as to not damage their ability to hunt and blah, blah, blah... Well, this happen in yet another fight vs Tyson, so this may give you an idea of the kind of character he has. In this sense, he reminds me of Gabbar, the male tiger.

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The injury to his eye was so important that he ended up losing the sight of that left eye.

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Still, he went on, and still does. Now he has to face again a much bigger oponent, the Piva/ Treehouse male, who is also three or fours years younger than him. They've already had some encounters, but nothing too serious. Still, Piva is gaining confidence so Airstrip will have to decide wether to face him in a full-on battle that could cost him a lot(because of his age) or to switch a little his territory, something possible now because of the dissapearence of the Gowrie male.

This is his part of his territory, showing the little shift he may make coming from Mala Mala into the north-eastern part of Londolozi:

*This image is copyright of its original author

The only downside to this male tenure as dominant is the low success he's had when siring offsprings. For all the badass he is, and the frim grip he has always kept in his territory and his patrols, he hasn't been able to imprint that in cubs. A couple of litters he had with the Kikilezi female were killed, and as of now, after many years as a dominant male, only the two daughters of the Kikilezi female are considered his(although even this may be questioned, as female leopards mate with several males, and that time she also mated with the Marthly male, the one who beat the crap out of Airstrip).
But, in any case, Airstrip has helped to raise the two girls, has tolerated them around kills, or simply has spend time hanging out with Kikilezi and the cubs, so I consider the two females, who are now almost independent, to be his daughters.

So, aside the fact that he hasn't been so successful in the reproductive sense as his father, Airstrip is still a dominant force and an amazing leopard to watch.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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