Nthombi's Male Cub

Name: Unnamed


Born: January/February 2010

Territory: Still dependent and not yet territorial. He spends most of his time around the Nhlaralumi Riverbed, particularly in the rocky area north of Steep Nhlaralumi Crossing.

Females: Not yet territorial

Cubs: No cubs yet

Mother: Nthombi female

Father: Unknown

Siblings: This young male did have one or two other litter mates, but he was the only one to survive the first couple of months.

Neighbours: As a young leopard that doesn’t venture too far, besides the shy, mature males that utilise that part of the territory, the only other leopards that he could bump into are Rockfig Jnr female and her daughter, Zakumi that roam to the east of this young male.

Story: This young male is Nthombi’s first cub and it is great to see that even at the first time of asking, Nthombi is doing a good job of raising him. His initial den site was in the inaccessible rocky area in the middle of the Nhlaralumi riverbed west of Elephant Dam, as well as along the thick riverine vegetation of the Nyosi Riverbed a bit further west. As vehicle exposure was very limited in the early months, he was quite nervous when he was fist exposed to vehicles, but after a couple of months, he followed his mothers lead and grew in confidence and is now quite relaxed in the presence of the Land Rovers. He is the first male leopard cub to reach this age of any female leopard in the central/southern regions for a long time, and will hopefully live to maturity to provide that area with a relaxed male leopard; something that has been lacking since Mangadjane’s death in 2009.

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