Wildcast

30th August 2000
Tjololo had found himself a perfect tree, a large Jackalberry, to rest up in when we found him and he was in no hurry to leave this perch. Some time after sunset he moved on north but at the same time we saw Tjellers move by heading south. He hadn’t seen her but soon picked up her scent and was groaning and calling. Eventually she responded and he headed south. That was the last we saw of them as they disappeared into the reedbeds in the river.

The little we did see of them, the initial encounter was very aggressive with Tjololo climbing into Tjellers. They moved out the river briefly and on several occasions Tjellers took refuge in a tree while Tjololo made his stand at the base scrape marking.
When they moved back into the river, from all the sounds the relationship was still tense and aggressive. This went on till after midnight, the tension slowly easing and they ended up mating.
Only just before dawn did they venture out the river and carried on mating on and off till we left them mid-morning. They at least behaved and allowed us to view this very private affair of theirs.
So what is it with Tjololo? Last week a young leopard is all over him and he chases her off. But now with the old Tjellers he’s very quick off the mark once they’d got their initial greeting sorted out. Maybe he likes them old. Experienced?