It was late afternoon and I had been catching glimpses of a mother leopard and her three cubs in the long reeds for about 20 minutes. My patience paid off and I was rewarded with a beautiful sighting of four leopards in a clearing. Slowly they made their way into the tree line and began to play. I watched in awe as they tumbled over one another. Suddenly the mother began to stalk. A herd of impala made their way through the clearing towards the tree line. I watched as the cub

It has now been six months since we started working to familiarise a female leopard and her 3 cubs with game drive vehicles. All three cubs are still alive and doing well; two males and a female. Their mother has done a fantastic job in rearing, feeding and protecting them. I have been fortunate to have spent a great deal of time with the four of them and have watched the cubs grow and develop unique personalities. At first the female seemed to use a handful of den sites (we

The Waterberg, South Africa, is not famous for leopard sightings. Sightings are generally few and even then are generally just a blur of yellow and spots. Before working in the Marekele National Park I worked for two and a half years on another reserve in the Waterberg. During that time I saw two leopards dashing across the road. We are very lucky in the Marakele to have a handful of leopards that are relaxed around the vehicles. About three months ago a tiny leopard cub was

The Kruger National Park, South Africa, is the size of Switzerland. The majority of roads are tarred and any member of the public can drive around looking for animals. The big five (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo) are on everyone’s checklist. It was early morning in December and we were on the look out for a leopard. December is a special time of the year in the African bush. Many animals give birth at this time of year as the rains bring lush grass to eat. This