Life of the 3:4 Leopard at Londolozi

Life of the 3:4 Leopard at Londolozi
by Greg Seymour. Photograph by Warren Pearson

Through sensitivity and careful tracking over the past 25 years the Leopards of Londolozi have become accustomed to the proximity of game viewing vehicles. Because of this it has been possible to recognise individuals based on distinctive patterns of spots above the whisker line (3:4 indicates 3 spots on the right and 4 spots on the left), as well as nicks in ears, scars and general appearance.


Back in 1979, the first Leopard to become totally relaxed in the presence of game viewing vehicles was known to Londolozi rangers simply as ‘The Mother'. The story of this remarkable cat's life has been documented in Lex Hes's book ‘The Leopards of Londolozi', which describes her nine recorded litters in an illustrated family tree.

One of her offspring, the Tugwaan Female, born in April 1984, held a territory until she died towards the end of 2000 - just short of 17 years - and she too became a legend among Londolozi rangers. A remarkable six generations have come from the original ‘Mother' and one of her granddaughters, the 3:4 Female.

Born to the Tugwaan Female in 1992, the 3:4 Female was 13 years old at the end of 2004. She is currently one of Londolozi's most relaxed Leopards. Those who knew the original mother Leopard say she has a similar demeanour to her grandmother. Her distinctive kinked tail and now tatty ears make her instantly recognisable. The 3:4 female initially established a territory adjacent to that of her mother, but, in the same way that her mother moved west to make room for her, so she did the same for her five-year old daughter (the Dudley Riverbank female).

Over the years, the 3:4 Female has produced eight litters with mixed success. Her first offspring, a male and female, were born in October 1995 and both reached independence and remained within her territory for some time. The young female, now known as the Notten's Female, established a territory to the south of her mother and still occupies this area, although she has also extended the territory slightly further west. The male is still seen from time to time. A further two cubs were born in October 1997, but they were both killed within the first month by a male Lion. A solitary cub was subsequently born in March 1998 only to be killed by an African Rock-Python a month later. After the loss of this cub it was not long before she mated again and duly produced another two cubs in September 1998 both of which reached independence. The Dudley Riverbank Female, has since established herself in the eastern portion of 3:4's territory as she has moved slightly further west. The young male, now six years of age, is in the process of establishing a territory but has been utilizing the north-eastern portions of Londolozi.

After raising these two cubs to independence, the 3:4 Female lost her next four litters. Two cubs were born in September 2001, but the young female died at an early age and the male disappeared when he was eleven months old. In February 2003, at just two months of age, the next litter was killed by a male Leopard (Sparta Male) in a case of infanticide. She mated again in early June and gave birth in early September 2003, but these cubs were again lost, after possibly as little as one day. Soon thereafter she was found courting a male (5:5) and mated with him in Roger's Donga. Six weeks later the same pair were found mating again in Mhangen donga. In early February she gave birth to two cubs in the Tugwaan drainage line around Sparta-Sparta, but by late April only a single female cub was seen with the mother. This young cub became very relaxed, but it appears that she was killed by the 2:3 Male around Stikinyawo pan when she was aged just 5 months. Interestingly, the mother ate and hoisted the cub, yet continued to call for it for six days. No more than three weeks later, the mother came back into oestrus and mated with her former mate, the 5:5 male. She gave birth to two cubs at a den site north of her own territory in December 2004, but we suspect that she lost this litter to one of three adult males which were active in the area at this time. Only time will tell if she is able to raise a tenth litter.

-Greg Seymour-

Posted: Mammals by CC Africa, Date: 21 November 2006