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Leopards are one of the hardest animals to find in the African savannah and jungles. My car was moving through grass as tall as a person when my guide found this juvenile male. He moved with deliberation from his reclining pose to pause in this gap in the grass. I, and he, could here guinea fowl behind us. I thought he might be deciding whether they would be a good target for his evening meal or whether to go after larger prey. I waited with him in the fading light until the guide had turn on our headlights to know where he was moving. The colouring on his fur blended so well into the grass it almost makes for a monochrome image.
South Luangwa National Park in Zambia is known for fantastic and reliable leopard sightings. As secretive as these big cats are, “reliable” takes on a whole new meaning, but I was lucky to spend some time with the male. This park claims to have the highest density of leopards in the world and I came to Zambia specifically for this. I failed to find a leopard in my other African trips and was thrilled to experience the quiet intensity of the Zambian leopard.
