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26 April 2006 08h15: S58 Dzundzwini loop, about 1km E of the turnoff to the viewpoint: female leopard with 2 quite small cubs

30 April 2006 06h49: S44 less than 1km N of Olifants lookout: male leopard

8 May 2006 @ 19h30: H4-1 shortly before bridge over N'watimhiri: femal leopard marking her territory

11 May 2006 13h15: S37 about 7km N of S35: male leopard

8 Aug 2006, 6h45 7km north of Croc Bridge on H1
7 Aug 2006, 8h30 3km west of LS on H1

11 Dec 2006, 6h00 10km west of Croc Bridge on S25
14 Dec 2006, 17h30 14km east of Orpen on H7

Ah well... thanks anyway for your feedback.

BTW I saw in the March 07 Africa Geographic magazine (about the Cape leopards), they apparently finally captured and collared a female on 31st January. Ater I think more than 3 years searching!

About the male/female "necklace" business, I recently asked a field guide in Sabi Sands about that - he said he's never heard that before.

He did tell me how to identify a specific leopard: the first row of dots above the top whisker line. Now if only the leopards will sit still so I can check those dots out...

It would be near impossible to estimate leopard numbers , even in the small game reserves they cant figure out how many they have , these cats are as elusive as they come .

I bet there could be an easy 3000 plus in SA , half of them outside reserves .

Sjoe! Let's calm down here a bit, you guys are making me nervous

Leopards are very curious creatures when they are young .. I'm not denying that you might get an idiot who could try to feed an animal .. but let's not always look at the negative side. We have also seen leopard up close and they do get curious .. especially the younger ones. Richprins explanations seems the most logical here.

As with leopards .. Lomar explained it nicely .. the leopard did get in the guides vehicle unexpectedly and the guide could do nothing due to the "traffic" .. he was bitten in the leg but survived to tell the tale.

Leopards have killed staff in the park and when found and shot, the conditions of the leopards were generally poor. A gate attendant was killed years ago at Shingwedzi .. hence you will see the bars covering the windows at the entrance.

Johann Oelofse had to fight for his life against a leopard when attacked. The condition of the leopard also was not good.

And Oom Louie Olivier had to shoot a leopard in poor condition when it entered (i think) Letaba camp and posed a threat to the tourists in the camp.

There were some other sad situations in the Staff Village as well .. one being a small child. But again, after being shot by Don English it was found that the animal was also in poor condition with broken teeth etc.

Leopards are dangerous, opportunistic and clever as hell. Young ones are generally very curious while you do not want to cross paths with a leopard in poor condition.

I think we should not jump to conclusions and always see the "negative" in things .. Personally I just look at the pics of Carole and think to myself .. WOW, what an experience it must have been to see the leopard so close.

Thank you for sharing Carole .. It truly is an awesome sighting ..

Here's my contribution to the LOG thread. One afternoon on the dirt road past the Rabelais Hut near Orpen.

Beautiful pics Agatha! You were so lucky! We have seen a LOG once in Kruger - came around a bend and there he was, starting to stalk impala,LOG 4 feet in front of the car. We were awestruck and forgot all about the camera, a very good sighting that lasted about a minute. I'm very

Had this beautiful LOT on H4-1 (close to LS) May 3rd. This one completed our big 5 sighting - all on the same day within 5hrs 58 minutes .. but I must add that we are no 'big 5 chasers'..it simply happened that day ..



some other nice leopard we saw during that trip on H1-4 (April 28)



..and she even had a cub with her ..shoot is not very clear..sorry .. baby is on the right..you can see the ears/head only

and one on H4-1 close to Sabie high bridge (April 26)

My best sighting ever, seen on the S25 in June this year.

In short the answer is No.

Black leopards have been seen in Asia and Central Africa.

There were several unconfirmed reports of a black leopard in the Lydenburg region (about 100 km from KNP) last year.

I am sceptical, and if it were, it would probably be an escaped animal from one of the game farms.

both these Leopards on 1 road in 1 day with 6km apart...

on the Lubyelubye bridge outside Lower Sabie with a fresh kill




on the H4-1

Fantastic sightng and pics Gunner,
it seems as if the Leopard has made those rocks home as we saw one there in June and I have seen other reports since of seeing it there as well.

Although I heard her rasping coughing call on 2 mornings last week she never revealed herself to me this trip

Hi adw and Gunner, its possible that its this leopard? On the S100 near the H1-3, January 2007

This Leopard was with us fore more than a hour on Salitje Road between Lower Sabie and Skukuza.