Leopards at kirkmans

Leopard update for 2007 at Kirkmans Kamp TJELLAHANGA male Sex: Male Age : +-8 years Striking features: Cloudy right eye and size Without doubt one of the most striking Leopards because of his size, and his milky right eye. This Leopard originated from the Kruger park and slowly took up territory along the Tjellahanga River from where his name originates from. He has since slowly started pushing further into the territory of another male leopard. The Hlarulini male. Being the younger of the two he slowly started pushing the older male out and started controlling most of the Kirkmans traversing area, bringing his territory size to about 6000 hectares. This is a massive feat considering the Sabi Sand has a very high density of leopards in the Sabi sand. Number of sightings a month for 2007  Jan 13  Feb 15  March 9  April 12  May 8  June 16  July 18  August 17  September 15  October 16  November  December JAKLLESDRAAI FEMALE: Name: The Jakklesdraai female Age: +- 7 years Undoubtedly our most viewed female Leopard at Kirkmans, holding a large territory north of the Sand River. She has managed to raise her first litter of two cubs successfully and they are both seen from time to time in her territory. She gave birth to those cubs in June 2005. She has since been seen mating with the Tjellahanga male on a number of occasions and we hope to see her raise her next litter. She is an extremely successful hunter and provides us with some fantastic sightings. Number of sightings a month for 2007  Jan 9  Feb 7  March 12  April 12  May 7  June 9  July 7  August 8  September 8  October 9  November  December HLaRULINI MALE Age: 11 +- years Striking features: Hanging right jaw and large size This male is getting on in his life and has moved around a lot changing his territory due to other more dominant males such as the Tjellahanga male taking over most of his previous territory. He was last holding a territory on the western side or our traversing area. He has not been seen for a while and one of the last times we saw him he had a huge gash on his front and back legs. We hope to see him again. Number of sightings a month for 2007  Jan 7  Feb 5  March 9  April 4  May Assumed dead  June  July  August  September  October  November  December ROLLERCOASTER FEMALE Name: Rollercoaster female Age: 4 years Striking features: Dark in color The rollercoaster female gets her name from a road found just to the north and west of the camp. She started off as a nervous leopard but has since relaxed with the vehicles. She holds a territory just south of the sand river and stretches mainly east from the camp. She also has a female cub aged at about 11 moths that spends a lot of time with her. She is truly beautiful and makes for a fantastic sighting with her cub. Number of sightings a month for 2007  Jan 2  Feb 3  March 1  April 6  May 3  June 4  July 3  August 5  September 4  October 7  November  December ROLLERCOASTERS CUB Name: Rollercoaster’s cub Sex: Female Age: 12 months old This is the only cub of the Rollercoaster female. She is a fantastic Leopard and very relaxed with vehicles. She spends a lot of time with her mother and stays in her territory. It’s a fantastic sight to see the two of them together. I know she is going to provide us with some fantastic viewing opportunities. Number of sightings a month for 2007  Jan 2  Feb 3  March 1  April 4  May 2  June 2  July 3  August 9  September 5  October 7  November  December ROCKFRIFT MALE Name: Rockdrift male Age: +- 14 years Sex: Male Striking Features: Small size for a male and a prominent v between his eyes This relatively small male Leopard is truly a legend in this area. For his size he dominated a large territory and is father of many. Without doubt one of the best hunters. Many a documentary features this remarkable Leopard. So good a hunter is he that hyena has caught on to follow him. He unfortunately has been pushed to the north eastern sector of the reserve and spends a lot of time in the Kruger. He is a must see. Number of sightings a month for 2007  Jan 1  Feb 3  March 2  April 2  May 4  June 1  July 3  August 2  September 5  October 4  November  December Statistics for 2007 Total # of sightings for 2007 excluding November and December = 261

Posted: Mammals by Duncan Gordon, Date: 6 November 2007