The elusive leopard

The leopard is one of the “Big Five”.  Since leopards are solitary and shy animals that are most active at night, it can be difficult to find this elusive animal. The best chance is early in the morning or late in the afternoon, unless you are lucky enough to find a leopard in a tree, where he is taking his afternoon nap. Leopards live solitary and are excellent hunters. They stalk their prey till a distance of 5 to 10 metres before they jump at it. They like to live in rocky areas and close to densely vegetated riverbeds where they can hide. Leopards can climb well and often
take their prey into a tree, where it is safe for most other predators and scavengers.
 Until now we have been lucky twice, to see a leopard on the road to the gate of the reserve. From our lodge we have heard a leopard at night and we have found tracks. One time a leopard killed an impala close to our lodge and we found the remains the next day. Corné stepped outside late one evening to have a look at the stars when he heard an evil growl and hiss of a leopard. He immediately went back into the house and the next morning we found tracks of a leopard with cub next to the fence close to our house.
The highlight of our leopard experiences was when our guests were having dinner on the terrace after a successful game drive, when all of a sudden a big male leopard just walked past our lit waterhole.

Regards from the bush
Miriam