Tracking Leopards. Panthera pardus.

We are in Kruger National Park. It is 40 degrees Fahrenheit--Hot. We are sweating. The sun is relentless, unforgiving. But the lure of spotting a leopard on foot makes me forget the heat. The organization I work for has a leopard researcher in the Park. He is monitoring their movement patterns and behaviours so that park we can design conservation programs strategically. He has put radio collars on four of them. This way, with telemetry equipment, he can follow them and know their movements and whereabouts. We meet at the gate a 6 am. He indicates that the leopard has been in one place for over 24 hours, he suspects the leopard has a kill. He asks if we are keen on checking? Absolutely we say. 

We pick up a guard from the protected areas staff quarters. He is an elderly gentleman, wearing a khaki uniform and hat. His socks are tucked into his pants to keep out the insects and protect his skin. He is wearing thick, heavy black boots. I break a sweat just looking at his feet. He speaks no English, just his native language, and carries a big rifle. He sits in the front of the truck with the researcher, and four of us cram into the back of the truck. Now, it’s hot just sitting, so imagine how hot it is crammed four in the back of a truck.

We turn onto a ‘do not enter’ sign road. As a researcher, he is allowed to go wherever he needs to complete his work. We drive through vast grasslands passing impala, elephant, wildebeest....the usual. We do not stop for this wildlife; we are focused on the big cat. We stop near a river bank, the researcher pulls out the telemetry gear, gets himself on the roof of the truck and listens for the beep. The beep indicates the leopard, the louder and faster the beep is, the closer you are. He listens. We listen and watch, while trying to fetch any shade. He decides we should drive a bit further, as the road will get us closer to where we need to go in on foot.

We park the vehicle. The researcher reminds us of the rules for walking in the bush ‘walk single file, do not talk, stay alert, and look for any instructions from the guard.’ ‘The worst thing you can do if something happens is run, so hold your ground.’ Wide-eyed we all listen, watch and agree. In single file we follow the researcher and the guard. The researcher holds the telemetry equipment forward, waving it in different directions and following the beep. The air is thick. I am in a full sweat.

We enter a sandy river bed. The sand is deep making walking even more slow. The bush along the edge is thick. Pointing to a very thick area of vegetation, the researcher says she might be in there. He reminds us that leopards are very dangerous. We are completely exposed; she could be anywhere, let alone the other wildlife that could take us down in a snap. I edge myself closer to the ranger with the gun. Standing in the riverbank, the beep moves, she moves, we follow, quietly, following the elusive beeps. The researcher moves up the left river bank and I can hear the beeping get louder, faster. The researcher turns and says ‘stay with the gun.’ OK, I think, that is an instruction I will follow, scooting right up to the ranger again.

We break through the bush to a more open area, grasslands with shrubs and trees, and all of a sudden the corner of my eye catches movement ‘there she is’ I yell. Indeed, the leopard. Running, a comfortable distance away from us, we get one more look, and then she is gone. Fast. Eyes wide open with massive grins we all breath a sigh of delight, ‘wow, we saw her.’

The researcher says ‘let’s find out where she has been hanging out.’ We follow him and look around. We get a little spread out and again, he reminds us that leopards are dangerous and we need to stick together, like ducks in a row, we obey. Soon enough we are standing below a large tree, look up, and there in the fork of the tree is a bloody, adult impala draped over the tree limbs, her kill. Leopards drag their kills up a tree for safe keeping and sure enough, this one was safe up there. The limp body dangled over the tree like a doll, and yet, a male impala can weigh up to 80kgs, a hefty mass to drag up a tree. The leopard we were tracking is a female, they weigh up to 35 kgs, so imagine dragging half your weight up a tree, with your teeth, not an easy feat.

What is it that amazes us about leopard or cats in general? For me, it is their awesome beauty. The coat on a leopard is absolutely exquisite. The detailed pattern stretched out over their muscular body is awe-inspiring. Watching them and knowing their strength and abilities makes you pause. Their yellow eyes bordered by black eye-lids are mesmerizing.

Like all large cats in Africa, the leopard is on the Red List of Threatened Species. Their trend: Declining. They are almost extinct in N. Africa. Its advantage is that they are adaptable and somewhat elusive, but this also makes them very difficult to monitor.

As we head home that evening, despite only seeing a passing glint of the leopard, we are thrilled with our sighting. The adventure of walking in the bush, tracking one of Africa’s greatest cats is not something one gets to do every day, nor is it something one forgets.