Spotting Leopards

What do we commonly wish for from a safari trip? Wildlife, birds, scenery, sounds, smells, open spaces, remoteness, and often something unique to the particular park that we are visiting? On a safari trip to Yala surely everyone’s ultimate goal is to spot a leopard? Ours certainly was. Unfair though this is on the rest of the wildlife and the spectacular scenery in the park, it is the possible sighting of the legendary leopard that gets the binoculars out, the lenses at the ready, and the adrenaline pumping.

My last trip to Yala, and my first, in January 2007 involved two highly satisfactory safaris. We saw bears with cubs, elephants (including tuskers), jackals, crocodiles, hoopoes, black storks, eagles, bee eaters, owls, wild boar, buffalo galore, and a whole lot more plus some amazing photo opportunities. But we didn’t come across the elusive leopard.

This time around the Yala trip was with my mother (on a short visit from the UK), Jetwing Eco Holidays guide Sam, and our ever so patient and excellent driver Thiranga. We had already agreed that Yala had enough to offer for our safari trip to be excited about and that seeing the star of the park would simply be an added bonus (this so as not to get our hopes up too high). And we got more bonus that we bargained for! In our two safaris we sighted not one, not two, but three leopards. Up close and personal.

First sighting was of a male, excellently spotted by a tracker in another vehicle. He was well camouflaged sleeping under a bush just off the road, getting shade and cool after feeding on his buffalo kill. Several jeeps were crammed onto the road with many heads poking out to watch this magnificent creature. He was oblivious to the clicking of the cameras as we focussed in on his ribs heaving up and down in the heat, eyes closed with the occasional lifting of his head, and not a care in the world. We left him to it and decided to return at the end of our safari at dusk.

On our return he had vanished from his den, but instead of driving off on another round of the park we decided to patiently sit and wait. Patience is often rewarded. After ten or so minutes he strolled back through the scrub to his bed in the shade where we watched him playfully swipe at the flies with his massive paws and snap at them with his huge head. He was a big cat. He soon got bored with this game and to our delight decided to come out into the open. So we had the privilege to watch this magnificent male cat meander into the grassland; he was muscular, with clear markings, bright eyes, and all-in-all looking incredibly healthy. He walked around, lay down, rolled in the grass, watched us, watched the distant deer, yawned, rose up again and moved off as something made him decide to leave the area and his kill. He walked towards us, stopped in front of the jeep, took one long look and disappeared into the scrub with our eyes following in wonder at the time we had just spent with him.

As we headed off, thrilled with our close cat sighting, another male leopard walked into the road in front of us. Quite a contrast to the first. This cat was skinny, almost scrawny, and nervous – not the confident creature we had just been with, but none-the-less impressive. Our guide Sam thought this may be the brother of the first leopard going to feast on the buffalo kill. We quietly sat as he squeezed past the jeep, darting a look up at us before he trotted along the road behind. If I had stretched my arm out even slightly I would have touched him, he was so close. We quietly drove off all hoping he would get his clearly much needed feed.

As if this wasn’t enough, our third leopard sighting was two days later, although not so exclusive this time as others on safari shared the spectacular view. Again it was patience that got our rewards. The first sight of the cat was in the distance on some rocks – even far away has was an impressive animal, as large and healthy as the first we saw, confidently slinking his way over the top of the rock, standing and looking over the land before disappearing from our binoculared eyes. Most of the other vehicles hung around for about five minutes and then gave up, only a few of us played the patience game, heads anxiously turning 360 degrees for him to emerge from one of the bushes close by. Again we were rewarded as he came out onto the shallow rocks close to the jeep. He slowly sauntered through the open area towards us, then onto the road and into the scrub passing the rear of our vehicle and taking a look at us all staring back at him before he continued on his way.
A thrilling and exciting three sightings.

Not to do discredit to the other wildlife in Yala that day, as we also spent a wonderful 45 minutes watching an elephant family munching on trees before having the time of their lives in a shallow mud bath. Three mums with varying ages of babies – one about a month old, the other two were toddlers, one a young tusker. It felt very special to watch these huge and gentle creatures enjoying their bath time with smiles on their faces and snorts of satisfaction. The baby was well protected by long and bossy trunks pushing it this way and that. The toddlers were a little more exposed delighting in the mud and needing a bit of assistance in getting up. They were clearly being trained to face their fears as one was forced to cross the road in front of us without the protection of mum who had already gone on ahead and was waiting on the other side for him to reach her. He skipped, grunted and darted across the road. Two minutes later he was slotted in next to mum, sleeping in the shade waiting for the rest of the family to catch up.

We happily left them to their peaceful morning and headed back to our own for a much needed cup of tea and downloading of some memorable shots.

Check Mum's trip report on Bundala Birds.