A Leopard when you least expect it!

After a few fantastic drives, my guests, Siya and I thought it might be fun to try our luck in the mountains looking for a leopard. We carefully planned our route, covering all the known hangouts and previous sighting locations. About halfway through the drive our plans were scuppered by an elephant who had pushed a massive boer-bean tree over into the road. The only route around was quite a long detour and I inwardly cursed the beast. We turned around and headed back along the way we had come. I was not concentrating as hard as I perhaps should have been, assuming that we had already checked this path when not far from the tree I “spotted” something out the corner of my eye, the unmistakable pattern of a leopard, not 5 meters from the vehicle. “Leopard, leopard, leopard, leopard, leopard….” I excitedly whispered. A beautiful female wandered down past the vehicle and sunned herself on a bank, affording us a great opportunity to view her and photograph her (despite that I was shaking with excitement so much so that I couldn’t hold my binoculars straight, and not that I needed them anyway as she was fairly close by). Siya pointed out that she was lactating heavily, a sign that she has given birth and there are new additions to the Kwandwe leopard population. It’s a great feeling knowing that you must be doing something right for conservation when animals are breeding and healthy. I can’t wait for the next instalment when she brings the cubs out. Let’s hope it won’t be too long from now. Thanks to Jennifer and Daniel Rayman for the photo.

Posted: Kwandwe by Toast Seagers, Date: 11 September 2007