We have always had the policy of waiting for a leopard to become independent of its mother before officially giving it a name.
Leopards are named after the areas that they frequent on a regular basis, for identification and research purposes.
Due to the fact that Makwela now has new cubs of her own, we have officially named her previous daughter the “Hlaba Nkunzi Female”, named after one of the water holes south of Leopard Hills Lodge.
Thanks to Marius for the great shot of her below:
dear leopard hills staff and Marius,
Your photos and news are always a joy to see. Liz and I have such wonderful memories of Leopard Hills. If we had had a bucket list, Leopard Hills would be on it.
Best wishes,
Ian van Zyl,
Wild Life Artist
From Michelle in Dubai
Finally our darling has a name!! We were privileged enough to meet and experience intimately Hlaba Nkunzi when she was 5 months younger. She has grown into a beautiful specimen just like her Mother Makwela. Great photo Marius which depicts that adventurous nature she has. What would happen I ask you if she came across Makwela – would they fight or recognise each other??? Miss you guys and that bush!!!
They have had frequent encounters since Makwela left her to fend for herself and the meetings are less then friendly, especially now that Makwela has three new cubs to protect. The last encounter was about a week ago when Makwela had an Impala kill up in a tree not far from the Camp here, and the Hlaba Nkunzi female arrived almost begging her mother for some of the trimmings. Makwela showed no mercy and after much hissing and growling, chased her daughter away.
Although Makwela has always been classified as a small leopard, she makes up for it in her boldness, we have often seen her drive Hyena?s away from her kills in the past.
Look forward to seeing you and Craig back in the bush with us again soon.
Duncan
oh my ! to think that our family of 8 saw the cubs when they all were just a few days old. oh how i long to be in the bush. how fortunate you all are !!
hello to everyone,my we long to be back in the bush.. judy