Mvula Male Leopard aka Leadwood Male in Lion Sands

Mvula, which means rain, was named after first being spotted in a tree during a heavy downpour in Elephant Plains traversing area.

He was estimated to be about 5 yrs old - Dec. 2009.

He was quite a mystery when he first entered the Djuma/Gowrie area in July 2008. Finally, he was recognised as being the same young male leopard that had been seen at Leopard Hills and Elephant Plains during the previous nine months.

His true identity did not materialise until the formation of the Sabi Sands Leopard Identification group on Facebook. Out of hundreds of photos being uploaded for identification, one caught our attention with it's similarities to the young male Mvula.

This Dec 2006 photo of the two year old Son of the Warthog Wallow female in Lion Sands was posted by Kaye Nicholson. The striking similarities confirmed the photo was indeed that of Mvula but Not the Son of the Warthog Wallow female as originally thought. Instead, Mvula is the Son of the Outcrop Female Leopard (sister & litter mate to the Warthog Wallow Female). Lion Sands solved the mystery to this male's true identity.

Lion Sands' history for Mvula or the Leadwood Maleas he is known there: He was born in 2005 to the Outcrop Female. He was sired by Tumbela. Mvula's mother, the Outcrop female, was born in 2001. Her and her sister, the Warthog Wallow female, are daughters of the legendary Magondzwane (Hammerkop) (born in 1993)…and their father was Soshangane (both possibly deceased).

Mvula's brother/litter mate is known as the Tsova Male in Lion Sands.

Mvula is in the process of staking out his territory. He seems to move mostly around the Djuma/Gowrie, Nkorho, and Elephant Plains areas. He has attracted quite a bit of attention from some of the young female leopards recently. Inkanyeni, the young Beacon's female, followed him through several reserves trying ever so hard to get his attention. Unfortunately, he seemed to view her as more of a nuisance than anything else. That should change once he gets a bit older.

Update: Inkanyeni apparently won Mvula over and bore a male cub Feb. 2010 believed sired by him. Nkorho Bush Lodge reports in early July 2010, that Mvula has been seen mating with Thandi/Saseka, one of Karula's daughters.

He is a strikingly beautiful leopard of good size and hopefully he will stay in the area and provide great viewing for many years to come.

A big Thank You to Edwin Pierce and Allan Ronchini for solving the mystery of Mvula's true identity... and Thank You Kaye Nicholson for posting the photo that set the stage for this identification.

Written by Colleen and Karen