Wildcast

2nd June 2000
It’s hard to believe that in less than 24 hours an adult male duiker can disappear into one leopard’s stomach, Tjololo’s. Give or take a few scraps that dropped and were readily swallowed up by a waiting hyaena. Patience paid off for him.
Tjololo finished feeding at sunset and headed west to a pan to drink and then rest, the most comfortable recipe for an overcrowded stomach.
Some time later the impala rutting calls were too much and he made off to investigate. He was in luck and in the very dense bush where we could only follow the moving grass and leaves to see his whereabouts, he plucked an impala from the undergrowth and soon treed it. Without feeding, no room, he left the tree and lay up across the donga.

Because of bad judgement, his investment soon crashed, and 3 hyaena having just arrived couldn’t believe their luck with this gift from heaven. Tjololo hung around in vain as the hyaenas soon devoured the whole carcass.
Tjololo headed south, but suddenly turned north again. Then we heard another male leopard calling to the north. Tjololo soon turned south again as the other male kept advancing on him. But this is Tjololo’s territory! This was the same male that challenged him in the north and was now challenging again. A huge beast himself, Tjololo decided to give way, but only to the Rock Drift donga. Here both leopards watched each other from a distance and the big male then gave way and headed back north.
Tjololo rested up in the Sand river.
He evaded us and at dawn we had his tracks heading east into Paradise Valley. A no go area.
Soon after sunrise we found Mziggi on her own playing in a dead tree, quite happy to investigate the peeling bark. The big male leopard would not be far, and one can’t be sure what his approach to her would be should he find her, as he’s not the father. Just hope he stays away and Mziggi keeps a low profile.