What a weekend it’s been! No, we are not referring to the kickoff of the Rugby World Cup, but instead to the unbelievable number of leopard interactions that have taken place right in front of our eyes here in the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve. Guide at Africa on Foot, Mike Beard, recounts the last 3 days of game drives and reveals that they have enjoyed no less than 8 leopard sightings!
Yesterday afternoon, a female leopard was spotted in a tree with the remains of an impala hanging lifelessly next to her. An incredible sight of this spotted cat, which is renowned for stashing its kill in trees and for its arboreal preferences. The leopardess had a cub nearby, which had been seen the previous evening with its mother in a drainage line, also guarding a kill.
Both Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp got to enjoy the leopards behaving in a wonderfully relaxed manner, until something unexpected happened: a third leopard joined the sighting, much to the displeasure of the mother leopard who was defending her kill in a tree. Guests watched as the leopardess snarled and hissed at the vegetation below – a clear indication that there was a potential threat hidden in the bush. After a quick investigation of the area, the third leopard was found keeping its distance from the aggressive female in the tree. Rumour has it that this leopard has a kill in a tree not too far away, and now the 2 females are rubbing shoulders with one another’s territories.
This happened on 2 occasions over the weekend, the last time being this morning when photographer, Kevin MacLaughlin, took a group of guests out to where the kill was stashed in the tree. Lo and behold, the lady-leopard was snoozing alongside her prize, until something in the bush alerted her and she sat up and began to glare towards the ground and hiss, unimpressed. Again, the intruder stayed hidden in the bush and a confrontation was avoided… for now.
Hilde
Carolynne