WELL PROTECTED

I’ve just come back from leave and one of my highlights in the first days back has definitely been our 8 week old leopard cub. We had a fantastic sighting of the female trying to teach her youngster how to take its first steps in climbing over obstacles. The mother would climb from rock to rock, making the task of following her a little more difficult every time.

It is very important for the young leopard cub to learn how to save itself from potential threats in the near future by learning to climb trees. We had quite a laugh as the youngster got stuck in a branch and fell out, not having the skills perfected just yet. The mother immediately understoodand moved the cub towards another den site. They are now tucked into a cave in the riverbed, so the chances of the cub surviving are higher.

Unfortunately that makes it more difficult for us to be able to view the female and her cub. As soon as the little one has perfected its climbing skills, we will have a lot more fantastic sightings.

Posted: Kirkman's Kamp by Stephanie Mast, Date: 31 August 2010