~ THE LEOPARDS OF DJUMA ~

Djuma's resident leopards:

Karula ~ the dominant female of Djuma
Karula's daughters (1st litter) ~ Saseka & Tingana
. . . . Saseka ~ pictures of her own
. . . . Tingana ~ pictures of her own
Karula's sons (2nd litter) ~ Mixo & Induna (as cubs)
. . . . Mixo ~ pictures of him growing up
. . . . Induna ~ pictures of him growing up

NEW:
Karula's new cub(s) (3rd litter) ~ first spotted on November 22, 2010, by Lex. He only saw one cub but still so young and in a den, there may be one or more others. The father is Yambilu-Jordaan (99.9% sure).. No pictures yet, but as soon as we see them on drive, there will be. Update: It has now been confirmed that Karula has two cubs.

Safari ~ Karula's mother (we haven't seen Safari since she shifted her territory to make room for Saseka when she became independent)

Mafufanyane ~ the dominant male in most of Western Gowrie
Yambilu-Jordaan ~ the dominant male in the very northern part of Western Gowrie


This needs to be updated to include Mixo & Induna.

Other leopards that have been seen at Djuma:

White Cloth ~ dominant female to the east of Djuma (she has a male cub born in 2009) [b. 9/1993 - d. 7/4/10]
Jordaan Male ~ older male leopard from an area to the north of Djuma
Young Beacon Male ~ he is from an area to the north of Djuma
Young Beacon Female ~ she is from an area to the north of Djuma
Matimba ~ Karula's younger brother
Mvula ~ a nomadic male that has stayed in the general area of Djuma
Mystery Male aka 'The Poacher' ~ only seen once

MALE LEOPARDS ~ Comparison

Please post all discussions about these leopards on the current Djuma/WildEarth thread

KARULA

Karula is the resident female leopard on Djuma. She was born March 15, 2004. She had her first cubs in February, 2007. Her mother is Safari also know as the Safari female.


February 7, 2010

This shows our 'WoW' girl ~ as she has that distinctive marking on her forehead.

KARULA'S DAUGHTERS ~ SASEKA & TINGANA (sub-adult)

Saseka and Tingana are Karula's first cubs and were born probably in early to mid-February, 2007. Karula had them in a termite mound on Djuma and let the rangers see one of them on February 22nd.

The names of these cubs have also been confused but I think they are now positively identified by WildEarth.

The guides at Djuma go by the whisker pattern, but for viewers we don't usually get the right angle or picture quality to pick the spots out easily. Here are a few tips:

Saseka:
1. Has a definite row of spots, that blend into a line on camera, over left eye.
2. She has an overall darker spot pattern on her head than Tingana.
3. Her dark 'necklace' on her front is pretty rounded, especially compared to Tingana.
4. Note: As an adult she now has a notch in her left ear.

Tingana:
1. She is very light over her eyes.
2. She has a notch in her right ear.
3. Her 'necklace' comes more to a 'V' in front.

Saseka is darker than Tingana but I don't notice that unless I see them together.

SASEKA ~ all grown up and on her own.
Taken on July 13th and July 30th, 2009, WildEarth Game Drive
Saseka is now mainly seen in the very southern part of Djuma and across toward Little Gowrie. This is an area that Karula and Safari both used to be seen in but they have shifted (Karula to the north a little and Safari to the south and/or west) so that Saseka would have her own space.



This shows Saseka's notch in her left ear and the prominent line over her left eye ~


Saseka has three spots above her whisker line on both sides.




Close-up of Karula's beautiful daughter

TINGANA ~ She is also grown up and independent
She is seen mostly to the west of Djuma
Karula and Safari adjusted their territories to make room for Saseka (to the south) and Tingana.

August 18, 2009 ~ WildEarth Game Drive
Tingana still has her identifying features - notch in right ear, very light over left eye compared to Saseka, her 'V' necklace, and her whisker spots.

November 6, 2010: Tingana (also known as Shadow in the rest of Sabi Sands) was seen crossing MMM road with two new cubs by one of the Djuma guides. Karula is now a grandmother and Safari a great-grandmother. There was one report on one of the drives that she had been seen mating with Mvula, as had Saseka. Update: Here is a link to the first photo I have found of one of her cubs which was posted on December 6, 2010, and mentioned that the cub was 8 weeks old:

http://www.outdoorphoto.co.za/forum/pho ... oto=251777

Two more pictures posted by Brendon Cremer who was at the same sighting and is a guide at Arathusa:

http://www.outdoorphoto.co.za/forum/pho ... puser=9493

http://www.outdoorphoto.co.za/forum/pho ... puser=9493

And a new one of both of the cubs together by Brendon Cremer:

http://www.outdoorphoto.co.za/forum/pho ... oto=252448

Now we finally have a video of Tingana's cubs taken by a guest at Arathusa:

http://blog.arathusa.co.za/2011/01/awes ... ent-guest/

Meet Karula's new cubs who made their debut on WildEarth live on January 28, 2009, during the morning drive:


Note - 1 Aug 2010: The following links to Mixo and Induna's first sighting no longer exist in the archives ~ oh, how sad.
Here is the link to the beginning of the sighting:
http://www.wildearth.tv/web/djuma1?stre ... ;start=362

the cubs reappear here at the 3:00 mark:
http://www.wildearth.tv/web/djuma1?stre ... djuma1.flv
(to see more, just add 10 to the last number, i.e. 2009-01-06-36 to 2009-01-06-46 etc. for each 10 minute clip--look at your browser to see the whole URL)

Rexon wants to call the cubs Induna and the other Mixo (pronounced mee-shu).

Fireside Chat of 2/15/09 where Pieter and Rexon give the cubs their names and Rexon gives the meaning of the names:

http://www.wildearth.tv/web/djuma1?stre ... ;start=126

Update 3/22/09: Both cubs have been determined to be males.
Their estimated birthdate is between November 14 and 22, 2008.



This is Mixo ~ which means dawn or early morning


This one is Induna ~ which means chief or head man


July 11, 2009:

Mixo:


Induna:


21 January 2010 ~ Karula with Mixo & Induna

Mixo ~ growing up


Mixo is on the right ~

17October 2009

Mixo's '\/ /\ \/' pattern ~
2/25/10


And a 'Y' coming out of the corner of his left eye ~
2/21/10


Mixo's Collar/Necklace -- This boy won't sit or stand still looking at a camera and this is the best I have at the moment. His collar is like two scallops with a definite /\ in the middle as compared with Induna's whose is more rounded around his front. That is Karula sitting behind him.
1/21/10

Induna ~ growing up

Induna is on the left ~


17 October 2009

Induna has a very prominent arch on his forehead:


13 November 2009
He also has what I call a 'sloppy' whisker spots.

Induna's collar/necklace ~ completely different than Mixo's so here is another way to tell them apart. It is more rounded or straighter across his front.
1/8/10


Early in 2010, the very end of Induna's tail had been stripped down to the bone.