June 2002
Two sightings of the male leopard with the shorter than average tail. Both sightings were close to the Sand River and between Harrys Camp and Mala Mala Main Camp. At the one sighting, this at night when this male leopard seems to ignore vehicles, the leopard was actively scent-marking in an area where the Rock Drift Male, one of his old adversaries, had probably just walked through. At the time the Rock Drift Male was a kilometre or so from this other leopard, walking down the road, also scent-marking. The status of the male leopard with the shorter-than-average tail remains an mystery - while the dominance of the Newington Male (probably his son) in much of this male leopards' old haunts suggests that he is no longer a force to be reckoned with, other behaviour indicates otherwise. Another sighting of a male leopard in this same aforementioned area may also have been of this same animal.
July 2002
At least three sightings : Two of these sightings involved female leopards, one when he was in the area of the Ngoboswan Female and all three of her cubs and another when he appropriated a kill from the Kapen Female leopard. The Ngoboswan Female is one of his old mates and the two were seen walking side-by-side with no hostilities evident at all. However, the fact that both were also surrounded by irate elephants probably meant that they had more immediate things on their minds than mutual dislike for one another. When this leopard was seen taking the remains of a bushbuck kill from the Kapen Female, the latter made it quite clear that she was unhappy with the male and made good her exit from the tree whilst he climbed it to take the carcass. On another occasion, this old male was seen on his own near the Mala Mala Causeway close to the Main Camp. This was well after dark. Earlier that morning, a male leopard was seen briefly to the west of Harrys Camp and it could have been this same male which then made his way up towards the general area of the causeway during the day.
August 2002
8 sightings : This veteran of the north-western parts of the reserve, in the area close to the Sand River between the Main Camp and Harrys Camp, seemed to enjoy a good month. At the beginning of the game-report-period, he was found eyeing out the remains of a rotting buffalo carcass, at the time being eaten by lions. Realising the rashness of trying to steal any of the meat, the leopard moved on. A few days later he was found together with his old mate, the Ngoboswan Female and her three cubs, which had a kill in a nearby tree. This male leopard, although not the father of the cubs (the Newington Male mated with the Ngoboswan Female), seems to get on well with them. The Ngoboswan Female herself paid him almost no heed and the cubs even played with his tail on one occasion before lying down close to him. Over the last year, this once very nervous leopard seems to have relaxed down quite well in the presence of landrovers.
One of the last sightings of this male leopard in August also involved his old adversary the Rock Drift Male, as well as a pack of Wild Dogs. The Rock Drift Male chanced upon the pack of Wild Dogs which had just killed a bushbuck and stole the carcass from them, taking it up a tree. When the pack left the area, they encountered the male leopard with the short tail which they then briefly harassed, forcing him to climb a tree. Once the Wild Dogs had left, the leopard moved on and came across the Rock Drift Male eating the kill. The two leopards confronted one another and the result was the Rock Drift Male moving off, leaving the other male to eat from the remains of the kill. The outcome of this interaction was somewhat surprising since all indications have so far been that the Rock Drift Male is by far the stronger of the two, not only besting the other in physical interactions, but also getting to mate with females once under his control. Goodness knows what transpired in this particular conflict which occurred on what must certainly be the very northwestern border of the Rock Drift Males' territory, but the male leopard with the short tail certainly triumphed.
September 2002
2 confirmed sightings : These sightings were within less than 24hours of each other and both far south in the area considered his territory (if he even has one given his relationship with the females in the area as well as the Newington Male). He may have been responding to a conflict between his old mate, the Ngoboswan Female, and another young female which appears to have set up residence to the south of the Ngoboswan Female. The interaction between the two females may well have caused this old leopard to make an appearance. The day before the first of these two encounters, there was a brief sighting of a male leopard leaping out of a tree with the remains of a kill in his mouth. The area in which this occurred, southwestern Marthly, is an area which this old male certainly used to frequent and, given his often nervous disposition, particularly when food is around, the leopard seen leaping from the tree may well have been him.
October 2002
11 sightings of the adult male leopard with the shorter than expected tail:
All sightings were close to the Sand River from as far south as Flockfield (south of Harrys Camp) and then as far north as the lower parts of the Manyelethi and Mlowathi Rivers. This male leopard, which is relaxing nicely in the presence of landrovers, delivered some good viewing during October and was seen interacting with several other leopards, including the White Cloth Female and her son, the cubs of the Ngoboswan Female and the Newington Male.
In the latter encounter, which occurred towards the lower reaches of the Mlowathi River, the Newington Male (which may in fact be the older male leopards' son) was found cowering in a tree with the male leopard with the short tail waiting below. Two male lions were watching this interaction from 100 or so metres away. Eventually the male leopard with the shortish tail wandered off and the Newington Male climbed down and drifted away. That afternoon the male leopard with the short tail was still in the area, this time close to a tree in which the remains of an impala were hanging. It is not certain which of the male leopards had actually killed the impala, perhaps the Newington Male since the previous day the male leopard with the short tail was a kilometre further south with the cubs of the Ngoboswan Female and was eating the remains of a bushbuck kill. The cubs of the Ngoboswan Female were fathered by the Newington Male which actually mated with the Ngoboswan Female whilst the male leopard with the short tail looked on. The male leopard with the short tail is the old mate of the Ngoboswan Female and seems to get on very well with her and her cubs. When the male leopard with the short tail started to feed from the kill, the two male lions, which had been lying in the area for the entire day, came along to investigate and even tried to scale the tree. But they managed to get nothing and the old male leopard simply settled down in the tree to wait for the lions to move off. The third interaction seen to involve this male leopard had him stealing another kill, this time a bushbuck from the White Cloth Female and her son. The White Cloth Female tried to regain the carcass, but failed and eventually left the male leopard to feed on the kill. There is some thought that the male leopard with the short tail fathered the first of the White Cloth Females' cubs and although he is probably not the father of her current youngsters, is no doubt familiar with the White Cloth Female. Perhaps due to this existing 'understanding' there was not much overt hostility displayed between the White Cloth Female and the male leopard with the shortish tail.
November 2002
2 definite sightings of the adult male leopard with the shorter than expected tail:
Aside from these two confirmed sightings of this particular male leopard, which controls the general area between Harrys Camp and the Mala Mala Main Camp, there were two other sightings of a male leopard during November which were almost certainly of him. One of the sightings of what was probably this male had him in front of the Mala Mala Main Camp, in the general area of where some lions had some or other kill. It is quite likely that the leopard had been attracted to the scene of the kill and was hoping for an easy meal. But with lions around this would have been unlikely. Otherwise there was nothing terribly exciting to report on this leopard.
December 2002
The four sightings of this old leopard suggested that he is still strong and in control and in fact even edging slightly beyond the usually fairly strictly controlled boundaries of a male leopards territory. There were two encounters with male leopard which had him entering areas around the lower parts of the Matshapiri River thought to be more under the control of the Rock Drift Male. These particular regions were certainly patrolled by this male leopard some years ago, this before the Rock Drift Male moved north and pushed him back. But with the Rock Drift Male perhaps weakening somewhat, opportunity beckons for these areas to be reclaimed.
All Credits Goes To Mala Mala
