Today we have LEOPARD photos taken by Phil Frymire, whom I met in the line for the plane from Newark to Johannesburg. Someone said, as I perused the line, “Are you Jerry Coyne?” I was shocked, but it turned out that Phil and his brother read this site and recognized me. My 5 minutes of fame! Phil’s IDs captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
My brother and I visited South Africa at the same time as our host. We stayed at Kambaku River Sands lodge in the Timbavati Nature Preserve and at Mala Mala Sable Camp. Kambaku River Sands is about 35 miles northwest of Manyeleti (where Jerry visited) and Mala Mala is about 12 miles south of Manyeleti. The routine at both lodges was very similar to what Jerry described for Manyeleti. Here are a selection of leopard (Panthera pardus) photos which also include some unfortunate impalas (Aepyceros melampus). The first six photos are from Timbavati and the last five are from Mala Mala.
This leopard was eating an impala she had killed and cached up a tree when part of the carcass fell onto some lower limbs. She slipped briefly when retrieving it, hence the expression. A lone hyena was lurking below, hoping in vain for scraps.
Another Timbavati female:
The same cat in a different pose:
This cub was stashed up a tree about 30 yards away from its mother:
This female was relaxing in between bites of impala. What is she thinking?:
This is a screenshot of a video I took. We missed this leopard’s taking of an impala by only a couple of minutes. When we came upon the scene, it was dragging its prey, looking for a suitable tree to store the kill. We found out later that hyenas had stolen the carcass.
Closeup of another Mala Mala female:
She was part of a mating pair. The larger male is on the right:
A Mala Mala female:
Her nearby cub:
Just above the mother and cub, in a dense tree, you can see the disembodied head of her impala victim:
Excellent photos – such an interesting trip! Thank you.
Great photos and story to boot!
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Lovely!
Lovely, lovely leopards.
Beautiful cats!
Awesome! Splendid! Amazing!
Spectacular portraits of the (to me) most beautiful of cats.
Wonderful! I hope perhaps you’ll share some more of your Africa photos with Jerry and us. I’m still in withdrawal from Jerry’s Africa trip.
Thanks for the kind words. I agree with Ruth that leopards are the most beautiful cats. I would be happy to share some more photos.
Wonderful photos! I’m off on safari to Botswana in about four weeks’ time. If I come back with any photos as good as these I’ll be very happy. And yes, if they’re worth showing I will send them in for WEIT!
Incredible!
Thanks!
Great photos and beautiful cats.
Gorgeous, thanks!
Great photos! Thanks.