Archetypal Leopard picture

 

Eye shine

 

Tall Tales

 

Spotted in the bush

 

A Trick of the Tail

 

Tracking Lion leads to Leopard

Our walking safari this morning led us to a new experience.

We had heard Lion mating the previous night (in itself a special experience). Knowing they were not far from camp Gavin led us the next morning on an expedition on foot to see if we could track them down.

 With our trusty ranger Isiah out at the front with his rifle and the sharpest of eyes, we set out to follow the Lion tracks.

Once more, we were lucky to have people in the group who understood the importance of keeping quiet, wearing the right clothes and walking as a group, for whilst we eventually lost the Lion tracks, we were treated to the sight of a Leopard less than 100m away.

To see this elusive creature on foot is very special.

The first indication was the alarm calls of a troop of Baboons, then Monkeys heading for the trees and alarm calls of birds. 

Quietly making our way along a narrow track we rounded a corner to see the Leopard calmly trot off just a few metres to our front. Another example of the fact you never know what to expect on safari, but behave well, respect and understand nature and your chances of seeing something special increase dramatically.
 

The naturalists dilemma

Nature is certainly harsh in tooth and claw.

On a morning drive we watched a Puku suckling her fairly young foal - a matter of days old. Her tenderness was touching to watch.

Yet a matter of hours later and that same foal was up a tree, having been taken by a Leopard some time later in the day.

There are aspects of the wild that are hard to take sometimes, but that is the natural world.

The Leopard must also feed, but the sight of the mother Puku standing a few metres away from the leopard's tree was a sad sight indeed.

To watch these stories unfold is the naturalists dilemma.

Always dining out

 

The Chase

On the transfer drive between Nsefu camp and Tena Tena we spotted a leopard stalking a young Puku out in the open and in daylight.

Stopping our vehicle we watched as the cat crawled ever closer to the unsuspecting young antelope.

Finally, when it's nemisis was just a few metres away the Puku spotted the Leopard and took off. With the Leopard on its heels it missed our vehicle by a few metres

 

Heads or tails

 

Never underestimate the work of wildlife film crews

The temperature in Luangwa is normally really comfortable for people and for cats in June, but when we were lucky enough to see Olimba's cub hunting stork hatchlings it was a scorching day.

We first saw the Steenkamps early in the morning, sat in direct sun filming the perilously perched leopard's every move. 

They were still there at 4pm when the Leopard finally came down full from (if not sick of) her day gorging on stork hatchlings. 

The couple stay at Nsefu camp run by Robin Pope safaris and without a doubt their day in the furnace of the stork colony would have justified more than a couple of cold beers on their return later that evening.

The Stork Buffet

 

In the Nsefu sector to the North of the Luangwa Valley lies the Stork Colony. This group of trees, seasonally submerged by flood water provides Yellow Billed Storks with a perfect nursery.

Not only is the stork colony one of the largest stork in Southern Africa it can a great place for predator action too. 

Sadly, many young storks fall from the nest before they can fly properly. Many break legs as they crash land and this leaves them prey to a resident Marshall eagle. We watched as it swooped down to finish of one chick and could see it had a regular perch overlooking the site.

But this is also the territory of Olimba, the Leopard made famous by Will and Lianne Steenkamp in their documentary Leopard Legacy, and we were lucky enough to watch her daughter demonstrating some amazing behaviour that is sure to feature in a future wildlife documentary. 

We watched her ,way up high in the trees casually picking off nestlings as though she were bar snacks, moving effortlessly through the giddy hights of the canopy with consummate ease.

Land of the Leopard

 The South Luangwa river valley is rightly famed for its Leopard sightings.

But nothing on a safari Holiday can be guaranteed - the animals are wild and come and go as they please. Spotting elusive creatures like this Leopard is down to the skill and experience of the guides. Trust them and let them do their jobs and your chances of seeing sights like this goes up considerably.

Guides will often start a trip by asking "What would you like to see?" our response now is "Whatever you can find for us". This frees up the Guide from chasing around trying to find a particular species and allows them to read their surroundings. In our experience this pays off far more than going with a "shopping list".

This year we had the rather weird experience of seeing another guest, a rather objectionable Swiss lady, at one of the camps we stayed at, throw a full on hissy fit because we said we had seen a Leopard whilst they had not. 

The fact their private tour guide had been constantly over-riding the local guide, telling him where to go in their search for Leopard, (which he had promised his rich punters) did not seem to compute.

In fact by the end of our trip we had seen Leopard every day except two and our sightings included a first - Leopard whilst on walking safari! 

It's rare to encounter people on safari so out of tune with the nature of the experience - so every time we subsequently saw a Leopard I found myself muttering "William Tell, Toblerone, Cuckoo Clocks , Alpen Horn and Secret Bankers - your boys took one hell of a beating!" 

Close encounters of the Flatdogs kind

Flatdogs is one of our all time favourite camps and like all the best it is the fact that wildlife is always passing through.

Here a baboon passes the front of our tent.

Later, on our last night we heard a Bush Buck making a very load alarm call. Imagine a big dog barking and you have the idea. 

The next day the carcass of a Bush Buck was found 20m from the rear of our tent - the victim of a Leopard.

Strange behaviour

We spotted this leopard just as we had unfolded the table for our sundowner G&Ts, walking about 150m away. After a speedy pack up we drove to intercept it, finding the cat rolling in the sand and, seemingly eating something from it.

Our guess is the Leopard was eating Impala droppings and rolling in them to get the scent all over its body to help with the hunt it was about to undertake. 

Even our seasoned guide, Kennedy, from Flatdogs hadn't seen this behaviour before though.

The one that got away.

The African ground squirrel here was feeding on a sausage tree in the grounds of Tena tena bush camp as we returned from our morning bush walk at about 10.30am. After six kilometers in the growing morning heat we were fairly tired, so I retired to the bar for a Mosi (Zambia's main brand of beer). 

Here, whilst sat chatting about our walk with the guides, we were stopped in mid sentence by the sight of a leopard walking calmly down the main track of the camp, just 20m away.

In a silent fluster of arms, legs and camera equipment we  abandoned our drinks to see where it would go, only to lose it as it passed like a ghost through the staff tents and off into the bush.

Sadly the picture of the squirrel, taken just ten minutes earlier is the only record of that exciting morning, my pictures of the leopard showing nothing but long grass or blurred trees and legs.

The problem with safari holidays is it's difficult to relax as you never know what the bush will reveal next or when.

Lazy evening Leopard

The classic image of Leopard is a cat dangling over a tree branch. Here we were lucky to find a Leopard near Three Rivers Camp who was one of the most photogenic we've ever come across - so placid and relaxed.

Elegance in the bush

The South Luangwa national park is the place to see Leopard. Normally elusive here they are likely to be seen more often than the Lion of the park.

To watch these powerful cats move silently through the bush early in the morning or into the evening is always a privilege.

Leopard with intent

Red spells danger

We watched this Leopard hunting for almost an hour one evening.

The guides use a red filter on the spotlight so the lights don't interrupt the hunt. The cardinal sin is to interfere, giving either the hunter or prey an advantage.

The animals can't see the red light so for them it is dark as usual., but for the camera a striking image earie in its colour cast.