Leopards of Sabi Sands

[Jubatus]

Mafufunyane Male Leopard

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Mafufunyane/Gowrie Male/ Son of Paradise Valley Female
One of the greatest Leopards to ever live, he was an awsome individual, and he will be missed. One of my favorites aswell!
He was born in MalaMala in 1998 with a brother, and he was sired by another well know individual called, Tjololo aka. Rock Drift Male.

The word Mafufunyane means aggressive or the angry one. And he was given this name for good reason. He was a real badass, and everybody here has probably seen his amazing fight with Tyson (Marthly Male). He was born latter part of 1998 in MalaMala. 

Some of his distinguished features include a short round muzzle, and a spot pattern in the shape of a smiley face (Ironic,huh!) on his left front shoulder area. 

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At the time Mafufaneyane came in to the Gowri area (Northern Sabi Sands) there were other big males already living in there, one of the was Xivati/Shivati who was know as one of the absolute biggest and most powerful males in Sabi Sands at the time. Mafufunyane had many fights to take over this territory, since then he became more habituated to people and game drive vehicles. Mafufunyane eventually became the dominant male of a large territory in Sabi Sands. 

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Other interesting observations:
- He is speculated to be Karula`s (Female) father, and it also seems as if he kept an eye on Karula when she raised Thandi and Tingana (Her first litter). Although Jordaan (Male) is rumoured to be their father (Due to certain face features, not DNA tested)

-In 2008 he was seen twice alongside Jordaan when Karula was in oestrus. This was before the birth of her Second litter-Induna and Mixo. Both males showed respect towards eachother. 

-It was often reported that he let his females offspring to follw him on patrole, and feed of his kills. 

-His absolute favourite prey was Warthogs, and that left a few marks over the years. Twice in 2008 he was spotted with cuts on his body, that was caused by warthogs. 

When he died I don`t know, but I know that there were sightings of him post 2011. So he became quite an old Leopard.

*This image is copyright of its original author

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