Leopard 011 - - Wildlife Reflections - Tim Allen-Rowlandson

Wildlife Reflections

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WildlifeReflections > Leopard 001 - Young leopard at night
Taken at night in Kenya, this young leopard displayed all the elusive characteristics of its nearby mother.

WildlifeReflections > Leopard 002 - Leopard hunting
The leopard relies primarily on stalking and ambush to capture prey rather than chasing it down over a long distance. This female was stealing towards a group of impala, but as with most daytime attempts, was unsuccessful.

WildlifeReflections > Leopard 003 - Trying again . . .
After her unsuccessful hunt earlier in the day (see 'Leopard 002'), the same female was seen stalking a few zebra and wildebeest in the late afternoon. She made full use of the sparse vegetation to try and conceal herself, and waited patiently for the grazers to move closer. Very occasionally she would raise her head with ears flattened, to monitor their progress, but eventually gave up when she was detected.

WildlifeReflections > Leopard 004 - The ultimate cat
The leopard is my favourite animal. Elusive, enigmatic, elegant – it is the supreme predator and I’ve spent many more hours trying to find and photograph leopard than any other species. Once considered endangered, there are probably more leopard than lion and cheetah combined in Africa, but unlike the latter they are seldom seen due to their secretive habits. Leopard are highly adaptable and live in almost every habitat from arid desert areas to high altitude forests. They have very catholic diets ranging from insects, birds and small mammals to antelope and usually hunt by ambush.

WildlifeReflections > Leopard 005 - Leaping Leopard
I found an antelope carcass suspended in a lone tree early in the morning. Realising that this was a leopard’s kill, I waited nearby in the hope that it would return to feed. After many hours, the leopard suddenly appeared in the tree and began feeding, but was soon disturbed by inconsiderate tourists who parked right underneath it. The leopard rushed for cover on the other side of the river, leaping over the water at a narrow crossing and straight into thick bush, to resume its meal later.

WildlifeReflections > Leopard 006 - Returning from the shadows . . .
Male leopard at night, Tsavo, Kenya

WildlifeReflections > Leopard 007 - Sheer infatuation . . .
My one-sided love affair with leopards began long ago, but has grown (if that is possible) rather than diminished with time. I can’t begin to count the months I have spent - but never wasted - in search of this beauty, often at the expense of other great photo opportunities. Perhaps if I publicly thank all those who have patiently assisted me n even tried to understand my obsession, then my relationship with them, if not the leopard, will improve. So thanks for your perseverance and sacrifices, and even the odd suggestion of therapy. Now that’s done, where’s the next beauty? Leopard @ night, Tsavo

WildlifeReflections > Leopard 008 - Leopard crawl
Another example of a supreme predator hunting upwind of its prey. Clearly stealth and concealment was much more important to this leopard than wind direction, and she was using every blade of grass to her advantage as she crept forward, inch by inch. Her quarry was a young zebra, and she closed the distance to about 25 m before some wildebeest ambled past and blew her cover - not that there was much of that in the first place! Leopards like to stalk to within 20 m from their prey, preferably 5-10 m, before pouncing and seldom give chase for more than 50m even though their top speed is a respectable 60 kph

WildlifeReflections > Leopard 009 - Head and Tail
The leopard is superbly camouflaged, especially in shade, where its spots match the pattern of dappled shadows from leaves and help to break up its outline (but less effective when seen against the sky, as here). This leopard is so visible because it is not on the prowl - it has a kill stashed higher up the tree - it is simply checking me out and if the coast is clear before descending and making its way across some open grassland to thick bush to rest up, 100% hidden and a respite from the flies attracted to the carcass

WildlifeReflections > Leopard 010 - The real deal - time for a full leopard!
Shooting up towards the sky can create exposure problems, so I spot-metered off the leopard’s body and added some fill-in flash for this shot to make sure the leopard was not underexposed/silhouetted. As a result the sky is blown (the highlights are burned out) but I can photograph a sky anytime, a leopard much more rarely! A leopard is usually very hard to see up in a tree from a distance, but the tail can give it away, even when resting. Most branches grow upwards and outwards, but the leopard frequently dangles its tail in a “J” shape so looking for this shape of “branch” helps find the owner!

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Keywords: wildlife leopard

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