… the most spectacular leopard photos ever taken on our reserve!
I wrote a few days ago that there are the “staple” sightings for African safaris, and then there are the “cherry on top” sightings. Well, a leopard sighting, this close-up is exactly that! This is quite rare, and all the more breathtaking then, as leopards tend to be quite skittish in general, and hunt on their own.
This leopard was seen two days ago, by Jonathan and Uyai, from our game driver full of guests, in a night game drive. The leopard was all but 5 yards away, and all guests could take great photos of it. What an amazing sighting! I wish I had been there myself, I really do.
The leopard is the smallest of the big 4 cats, with quite short legs (giving it great pulling power, remember physics in school?), a long body and quite a large head. Its success in the wild is due to its stealth-like predatory techniques, as well as a wide variety of habitats it can live in. Indeed leopards are found in Asia as well as the whole of Africa, it can live in rainforest as well as desert areas. It is near-threatened now, however, and has disappeared in several countries where it used to be quite prominent, such as Libya, Syria, Tunisia and several others (this is not linked to the Arab Spring and revolutions, that is purely coincidental)
Enjoy the photos, they certainly put a smile on my face. Lucky guests of ours !!
