Leopard

A young Leopard at the Buffalo Springs game reserve in Kenya, August 2007. We were all completely shocked as on our first game-drive we saw one of africa\'s most elusive creatures. In the end we were incredibly lucky and saw 7 leopards although this was by far our best view.

Wonderful picture!

Being this curious (or stupid) this one wouldn't have survived to adulthood back in the days of the white hunters. Back then the trick for a leopard to become old was to get lost upon the smallest sign of human activity or presence. Some years ago I read books by former white hunters and they would often note how difficult it was to hunt leopards.

It is remarkable that you saw 7 Leopards! It is the smallest of 'The Big Five' and on top of that the most elusive!

You have no idea how jealous I am of you. I once took a safari in a national park in Sri Lanka which is considered by scientists to have the highest density of leopards in the world. Leopard sightings here are said to happen more often than anywhere else in the world. In all of our 8 hour safari, we only saw one leopard and we didn't even get a good look at it. Hopefully if I happen live in Africa in the future I'll see lots of leopards.