The Mighty Mapogos

[fursan syed]

Wednesday March 9, 2011

Makhulu Mapogo and Hlabankunzi Female Leopard.
Posted by Greg Coates

Hlabankunzi was found drinking from a pan one morning and when followed, she lead us back to an adult male impala kill she had made during the night. Her cub was also in the area and both seemed to have had a good feed already. The carcass was however still too heavy for her to lift into a tree which proved to be costly as Makhulu Mapogo stole it during the night. The following morning the two leopards were still in the area but observed the male lion from the safety of the branches of a nearby marula tree. The male lion however left very few scraps and the leopards had to move on without gaining substantially from the kill.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Hlangisa was uncharacteristically found quite far north, right in the heart of Hlabankunzi’s territory. This is proof that she is gaining in confidence and looking to explore and hopefully expand on her core territory in the south. A vehicle returning from drive the next day was alerted by the distress calls of an antelope in the area where Hlangisa was headed the day before. Upon following up, they found her holding a young duiker which she proceeded to ‘play’ with for over an hour. She would let the young antelope go and then chase it down again and again, and even climbed a tree with it still alive. Eventually she disappeared into thick bush with it and all noises seemed to stop suggested she did finally kill it. The continued calling of the duiker must almost certainly have attracted the attention of other predators in the area and when Hlangisa was seen the next day she seemed not have been well fed, suggesting she probably lost the kill. She moved into the area where Makhulu Mapogo was sleeping off his recently acquired impala kill from Hlabankunzi but luckily managed to avoid him, even after he seemed to catch her scent and followed for some distance. 

*This image is copyright of its original author

Reply