Kicking up dust and sending grass flying. This is the last post in a series on this couple, spanning a couple days. The beginning is here.
She was in estrus, and he was too young to mate. Both are three years old, and his prime will be around 5-6 years old. He needs to be able to mate several times with her and defend against other males, so he is focusing more on protecting his buffalo kill than mating this year. This all led to some prolonged encounters and fireworks.
On this second encounter, we first spotted her in the tree and watched the romance unfold for about a half hour before our friend’s vehicle arrived. They were at a slightly different angle, and I like these shots by Kim more than my own, and she gave them to me to share.
Both of the guides say they have never seen anything like that before. The leopard is a solitary creature, rarely seen in pairs except to mate.
Come to mama…
Feet flyin’ up in the air…
Gettin’ dusty…
Pow! Just look at that paw!
Bear hug…
And they went at it over and over
And seem OK in the end…
(and we got even closer to a leopard in South Africa, next)
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