African Leopards

[Timbavati]

Mafufunyane 1997 - 2011. A legend!


November, 1997 to late 2011
Until his death he was the very successful and dominant male of Djuma. His name is sometimes spelled Mafufunyane, Mafufayane.   He has also been referred to as 'Muff-Daddy'.  He is thought to be the first offspring of the famous leopard, Tjololo.
During his reign as territorial male, his territory was around 5500 hectares (13,590 acres).
Mafufunyane at one time was thought to be the father of Thandi and Shadow, Karula's cubs. (The other possibility is the Jordaan Male.)
It is speculated Mafufunyane may be the father of Karula herself and also Salayexe's and Kwatile's.   Bottom line, no one knows when it comes to cubs which male leopard sired who.
Sometime in June, 2008, Mafufunyane was in a fight with Tyson (another male leopard in the area) which caused a long scar going down his nose.   It started on the bridge of his nose where his forehead markings end and went diagonally to the left side of his nose.  He and Tyson had several fights with Tyson trying to take over Muff's territory.  Mufufunyane gave Tyson the hiding of a century in their first fight.   Muff won the first and second fight but Tyson won the third.  At that stage Muff was getting old and Tyson took a big chunk of Muff's territory.  If interested, the first fight is on https\://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCrct29xGEY... but be warned, it is very intense.  Muff is the dominant one and Tyson is a paler leopard.
        It was often reported that he let his females offspring to follow him on patrol, and feed of his kills.
Mafufunyane's health began declining in Oct. 2011.   At the time, he was 13 years old
~ Dec 20, 2011, MalaMala reported: " He is in very poor condition with severe mange and looks to be on his last legs.   He can hardly walk but did just manage to eat a tortoise."
~ Jan. 2012 - Mafufunyane is presumed dead due to no sightings for the past few weeks and his condition when last seen.   If this is the case, Sabi Sands has lost another great legend...

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