June Newsletter - A Tribute to Makubela
12 July 2010
Makubela
Photo: Jean Francois Poudron
Luckily for our World Cup visitors the past few weeks of sightings have been as exciting (if not sometimes more exciting) as the tournament has! There were rhinos fighting, elephants playing, 2 different male cheetah were seen, the big buffalo herd came around, leopards were everywhere with one drive totalling 7 leopards in only 2 sightings, the Ximunghwe pride had a couple of different kills and showed off their 7 cubs beautifully and the Ottawa pride were also seen often.There were great sightings of leopard cubs – Hlabnkunzi's, Makubela's, and Mabirri's, 5 male lions were seen together and four of them shared a buffalo kill, there were hippo sightings galore and there were even sightings of lesser-known creatures such as serval, civet and genet. All in all a top month for game viewing!
There were reports from the north of the death of one Mapogo lion in a fight, the remaining eastern Mapogo rejoined his brothers in the west and the coalition is 5 strong again!
I would usually elaborate further on these magnificent sightings, adding anecdotes like Ronald being charged by the Xindlevhana male leopard or the drive where we drove into camp for breakfast but left again before getting off the vehicle TWICE! However recent events in the lodge have changed the newsletter I started writing a few days ago and instead of raving about the wonderful game sightings I find myself writing a Tribute to an Idube icon – the Makubela female leopard who sadly passed away inside the lodge grounds on the 6th of July 2010.
Death is an integral part of nature and we always try to be impassive as the lives of the animals are fraught with danger but regular visitors and newsletter readers will remember Makubela as the resident territorial female on Idube for the past five years.Before that she was often in the lodge as a cub, with her mother Shangwa and her brother Tegwaan male and this close bond between leopard and lodge leaves us all deeply saddened at her passing.
Makubela was one of a litter of three cubs born to Shangwa in December 2003, the first litter to be born in our area after I started at Idube. One young male of the litter was killed at only a few months old and it was soon after that that Shangwa started to use Idube as a safe haven for her cubs. It became quite common to have plans for the romantic honeymoon boma dinners cancelled due to leopard cubs sleeping under the deck there! At least one morning game drive was delayed due to the fact that three leopards were chasing nyala around the lodge and there was no need to leave to have great game viewing!
It became common for the game drive to return to find small leopard tracks in the dinner boma, sometimes even on the bar surface as well!
The cubs started to gain their independence at 14 -15 months and Makubela found herself moving on the outer limits of Shangwa's territory, this included Inyati lodge (where she famously dragged a kill up onto the thatched roof of their old entrance gate) the eastern portion of Dulini and central Idube. The place where she returned to most often was the area around Idube though.
During this time of early independence she was often reported as chasing staff in Inyati, at Idube however, she was always well behaved posing for pictures on the mound by the pool or sitting in the dead tree across the drainage line opposite room 4. I remember one morning during coffee before drive she walked right up to the meeting area to have her picture taken!
At this point she had not yet been named but her habit of sleeping up trees in the Makubela donga (the drainage in front of camp) soon gave us the obvious choice of name and Makubela it was.
I have many memories of Makubela in and around the lodge – once as we were returning from a walk the group got to the bar and suddenly all the nyala in the lodge scattered and ran towards the pool, Makubela in hot pusuit. I ran after the leopard with guests in tow , in time to see the nyala duck under the deck around the stilt poles that raise the floor from the ground, Makubela was unable to change direction in time and ended up crashing into the pole head-first! She shook herself off and turned to us with what can only be described as an “I meant to do that” look before crossing the swing bridge and disappearing into the bush!
There are a few times that she passed through camp during lunch and I was not on drive so on more than one occasion I followed her out of the gate armed only with a hand-held radio and walked with her until the drives started out and I could radio in her position
Another great story is the morning she was found sleeping on room 3's deck during morning wake-ups. She moved off with no incident but was seen later at the big mound by the pool. After drive we found a kill in the big tree between room 3 and 4. By now there was no sign of the leopard so Richard Kelly, Titus and I decided to move the impala carcass safely away from the lodge grounds whilst Andy watched. Once Richard had dislodged the baby Impala from the tree I started to drag the carcass (so as to leave a scent trail) to a better position with Titus in front and Richard following behind. Just meters from our starting point Titus suddenly stopped and pointed - there in the long grass was Makubela watching us with great interest! I remember lifting the kill and asking “Is this yours?” before placing it on a prominent tree stump next to me and moving away quite briskly! At no point did Makubela seem concerned that all these humans were interfering with her meal and she showed no animosity towards us, not even a growl.
A similar scenario played itself out in the lodge soon after she had given birth to her last litter of cubs, this time with a sub-adult impala and again close to room 3. Makubela had returned to her kill during breakfast and I had slowly moved up to the base of the tree she was in to film her feeding, she took a good look at me before continuing to feed. After a few minutes there was movement on the breakfast deck as guests tried to get a better view and this disturbed her, she jumped out of the branches and disappeared. This led me to realise that just as we recognise the individual animals in our area, they too must get used to certain people they come into contact with, why else would she let me approach her to film but run at movement 30m behind me?
Again the kill was removed and Promise and I dragged it to the big Schotia tree at Shadulu dam in front of the hide. As I climbed the tree with kill in hand I realised how easy leopard make it look, when it is in fact an incredibly hard act....
Within seconds of us leaving the carcass tightly wedged in the fork of the branches Makubela reappeared from nowhere and went up to check her food, satisfied we had left it in a good position she descended and went to sleep at the tree base.
Her record as a mother was not good having lost her first three litters to a variety of factors – lions, hyenas and other leopards mostly. Her most recent litter was on the way to being her first successful one – both cubs passing the 6 month stage successfully, and like her mother, there were numerous times that the cubs would be left in and around Idube for safe-keeping. The past couple of months gave us many opportunities to see the leopard family grow and develop to our delight.
The last few weeks have seen the story go sour, starting with the loss of the male cub early in June – the family had a kill just across the boundary to the east, the cubs were visible from our side as they relaxed in a large marula. At some point during the day the oldest Mapogo male lion came across the scene and the cub was not fast enough to get away and Makubela returned to Idube with only one cub remaining. There were still great sightings of the two leopards close to the lodge up until two of the Mapogo stole another kill from them. After this there were no reported sightings of the young female although there was some hope as tracks for what could have been her were seen close to where Makubela was found shortly after.
It was a few days after this that sounds of a major cat fight were heard around the lodge at 5 A.M. The rangers coming down for morning wake ups had a quick view of what was probably the Lisbon male leopard leaving the lodge via the mound by the pool. Soon after Makubela was spotted at the top of the big tree by the main building. At this point there was nothing to worry about as she did not seem too badly hurt and everybody expected her to come down and leave the lodge later in the day. She did come down but only later that night. The next day – the 6th July. Makubela was seen sheltering between the big boulders in front of the reception and it was there that she passed away. The lodge she grew up in, the place where she always felt safe was the place she had chosen to spend her last few hours of life on this earth. Idube was her home and it always will be, her memory will live on in the many photographs and videos that people have taken over the years. R.I. P. Makubela – Queen of Idube.
OK back to being impassive... The loss of Makubela means that an unoccupied territory is avaliable just at the right time for Mabirri's young daughter who is ready for independence now. We have also seen the Ravenscourt family pushing more west recently and when the Ravenscourt female was still known as Sindile, she once called Idube home too, perhaps we will see her moving more regularly to our area as well. So as far as future sightings go there is plenty to look forward to.
Until next time,
Best Wishes,
Rob The Ranger
Mapogo Male
Photo: Jean Francois Poudron
Dagga Boys
Photo: Louis Marais
Idube Community
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