I had this Leopard at the Yala National Park yesterday. We had it for a good 5 minutes before it disappeared into the jungle at Meda-para.
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21 comments:
Great!, how far was you from him?
beauuuuutiful!
But aren't they supposed to be on top of a tree or sleeping somewhere during the day?
Gosh, how lucky! Such a handsome chap, or is it a lady?!
Are there many of them at Yala? Could you add some details about where this Park is?
Wow! I'm not going jungle treking alone if we have THAT in Borneo. We have the Clouded Leopard which is small and rather shy.
We do have the Tiger Leech which I'm not really fond of!
Anyway, that's a great shot!
Like I said on flickr..................wow!
Wow must be quiet a feeling looking into the eyes of a leopard in the wild. Great shot.
He's beautiful! What an awesome feeling it must've been to come across him! He doesn't look bothered by you...great capture, Amila!
What a nice picture ! You were lucky !
Is it taken with the Canon or Digiscopy ?
Have a nice day. Friendly.
Magnificent.
Hi Tabib,
The closest we had it was about 5m away from our jeep. It was quite bold.
Hi Sasani and Flowergirl,
Thanks! We could not establish its gender for sure, but judging by its 'bold behaviour', I suspect it was a male.
Yala block one with 141 sq.km has close to 40 Leopards individually identified from facial spot patterns and other features. As Leopard is the apex predator with no other big cats to challenge it in Sri Lanka, Leopards are more bolder here. Yala block 1 has good protection afforded especially for its prey species, so it is doing well.
That is why day time sightings are regular at Yala NP.
Yala is in the South Eastern Sri Lanka and it is the premier National Park in Sri Lanka for big game.
Hi Jordon,
We were in a safari jeep when we saw this. This was a superb sighting and all of us really enjoyed it. When you find them on foot they try to run away often.
Hi Stu,
Thanks! I insisted to visit the 'meda-para' area of Yala that afternoon when the tracker and the jeep driver wanted to take us somewhere else. I am glad I made the right call! Other jeeps went Leopard less that afternoon.
Hi Chrisss,
Thanks! Indeed, it is a good feeling. I took a few more shots and I will share them in a future post.
Hi Kim,
Thanks!
I can tell you it is a very good feeling! This was the only Leopard we had on this tour out of 2 game drives. He was quite bold and was not too bothered by the presence of our jeep.
Bonjour Marie-Andree!
This was much closer than the one we had in August. I shot this from my Lumix. I couldn't digiscope it this time.
Thank you, Doug!
Incredible! What an experience, huh?
Did you see him early morning? His coat seems darker than normal or is it because of the shadows?
What is their main prey at the National Park? Deer, or something smaller? (I'm praying its not humans! )
That picture is enough to make one swoon. What a glorious creature. I'm so envious.
Holey moley! Don't see that in MY yard. What a great pix.
Amila: That is one super photo of the elusive cat.
WOW...that's a magnificent catch. Awesome image of the most beautiful cat in the list of predators....Thomas
What a wonderful blog site. I have started to follow to see some more of your incredible photos. I am so intrigued. Thanks for being out there.
No leopards in Maine, USA!!! What a magnificent creature!
Hi Sunita,
Leopards are a good reason why I like Yala. This was seen at late afternoon. His coat was normal. The spot I found it was a bit shaded + my camera didn’t capture its real colours + I didn’t do much photo editing to correct colours before I posted this.
Its main prey item at Yala National Park is Spotted Deer aka. Chital Axis axis.
Hi OC,
We had 7 Leopards n 2 game drives on my last tour!
Await pics and stories.
Hi Nancy,
I like the expression Holey Moley and I use it a lot!
Yala is about 300 km away from my backyard, so I don’t get them in mine too!
Hi Fishing Guy,
Thanks! I shot this using my Panasonic Lumix FZ-18. I could have got better shots, if I had a dSLR with a bigger lens.
Hi Thomas,
It is always a great feeling to find Leopards at Yala. You will surely like my next set of pics from that part of Sri Lanka.
Hi KaHolly,
Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting.
We have a lot of diversity here and I am always happy to share them.
How very fortunate, Amila. He is beautiful. Cats are so secretive--that he let you enjoy him to that extent is breathless. Look forward to seeing more about him and the rest of your finds.
Holy Moly!
Getting a glimpse of a large predator like that must be a thrill...here in southern Ohio, USA, we don't have ANY large predators anymore. There are small pockets of eastern mountain lions about 5 hours away. That's why we can relax here.
:)
Beautiful cat!
*here, kitty kitty kitty......*
Hi Vickie,
Thanks! I am not sure whether it was a he or she. Looking at the pics carefully again especially the ones in the post above, it looks like a she to me now!
Whatever its gender, you are right, it was beautiful.
You will surely like my next set of pics f Leopards from Yala.
Hi Susan,
Oh-yes! It is great thrill to find a Leopard always. Sorry to hear that you do not have any predators left now. What a loss Pleistocene era!
It is funny, I too said here, kitty kitty kitty…when it went away from us!!
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