A Leopard Diary: My Journey into the Hidden World of a Mother and Her Cubs
Hi My name is Suzi Eszterhas and I am a wildlife photographer I think it’s the best job in the world My specialty is taking pictures of baby animals in the wild I’ve traveled to some of the most remote places on Earth to photograph many different species including lions polar bears gorillas pangolins penguins and more I often spend weeks or even months following the same animal family That way I can photograph the babies as they grow up Leopards have always been one of my favorite animals But they are very shy and skilled at hiding from humans so this has made it hard to find a mother with young cubs to photograph That’s why I felt so lucky when I found out about the Camp Female a very relaxed leopard that lives in the Jao Reserve in Botswana’s Okavango Delta The animals in this protected area are safe from hunters and have grown used to seeing people and safari vehicles The Camp Female sounded like the perfect subject for my leopard photos The only problem She was not pregnant Not yet anyway So I waited patiently for many months When I finally received a message that she was noticeably pregnant I was beyond excited And I was even more excited weeks later when I was told the Camp Female had given birth I quickly packed my bags and boarded a plane to Botswana My dream was coming true and I wanted to remember this adventure forever So I decided to keep this diary of my experiences 44
Okavango Delta BOTSWANA Tubu Tree Camp is in the Okavango Delta in Botswana a country in Southern Africa The Okavango Delta is one of the world’s largest wetlands During the flood season heavy rains from the mountains in neighboring Angola run down into the Delta turning the camp into an island surrounded by water in July and August The area teems with wild animals including lions wild dogs elephants giraffes different kinds of antelopes such as lechwes and kudus and of course leopards 5
April 19 I am so tired but what an amazing day It took nearly 40 hours of traveling but here I am at the beautiful Okavango Delta When I got off the plane my guide and tracker was there to greet me with the biggest smile it turns out Kambango he told me to call him Kam for short was just as excited as I was We went straight to the leopards den while we still had a few hours of daylight I had plenty of time to unpack and eat later Kam told me that the Camp Female had recently moved her two cubs Leopard moms often do this to keep their young safe from predators and I knew this was going to make things challenging for us A small hole in a fallen tree is a safe place for the cubs to stay when their mother is away This way they are safe from large predators such as baboons or lions While Mom is gone the cubs always stay close to the den so they can run inside if danger comes their way 6
Her new den was covered with bushes and plants she had hidden her cubs well I needed to be patient if I wanted to catch my first glimpse of her and the cubs After a couple hours we heard a soft sound It was the call a mother leopard makes for her cubs to let them know she is close by She had been out hunting and I could see that she had a full belly Suddenly an adorable cub popped out of a nearby hole And then another They were so excited to see their mama But then she led them away hiding them in the brush and out of our view We decided to wait some more It turned out to be worth it Finally we heard movement in the bushes It was Mom with her two cubs following behind She flopped to the ground right where we could see her clearly She checked us out for a moment and then rested her head on the grass Bringing her cubs out in front of us meant she was relaxed and it felt like she was giving us permission to see her cubs Only five weeks old these beautiful blue-eyed cubs are playful They bounced rolled jumped pounced wrestled and gently pawed at their mother All right in front of us I feel so lucky 7
