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Is the leopard the ultimate predator?

In the flooded Mombo Marshes, in the heart of Botswana’s Okavango Delta, there are fertile floodplains filled with trees and vegetation and the best animal watching imaginable. This place is known as Africa’s ‘Last Garden of Eden’, with large herds of herbivores followed by the numerous predators continually lurking. These predators include big cats such as the lion, the cheetah, and the leopard.

The normal gestation period for a pregnant leopard is about three months or a hundred days when one to five cubs are born in a rocky den. After about eight days, they emerge to begin exploring. The cubs are in constant danger as herds of hyenas stalk the young who seek to discover the leopards’ lair. The mother should also be on the lookout for groups of baboons that have been known to eat almost anything and have also been known to attack dens. Therefore, puppies must learn to climb trees quickly. They learn to stalk, hunt and kill and become a master at ambushing their prey.

The leopard is a silent and invisible killer, possibly considered the ultimate predator. It is a very beautiful creature and its fur provides the perfect camouflage. Invisibility is this creature’s best weapon and it can disappear into foliage before your eyes under a cloak of invisibility. This is also a fast cat and in the first 30 meters it is like lightning that rivals another Botswana cat, the cheetah, for the crown.

The leopard’s preferred habitat is the dense foliage of lush forests, as these areas provide cover for hunting and shelter from other predators such as lions and hyenas. To give you an idea of ​​the success of these predators, imagine the skill it would take to catch a monkey or, better yet, a squirrel … in a tree. They are excellent climbers and can swing through the trees like acrobats. Other prey consist of piglets, wild boar, young baboons and

impala, which is a medium-sized antelope and is the prey of choice. A leopard will always try to drag prey up a tree and keep it safely out of reach of other predators, but it can often kill prey too large to lift. Unsurprisingly, the hyenas are still waiting for them for a free feed.

These cats are secretive and solitary creatures. Male leopards will defend a territory against other males, while two females sharing the same territory is a recipe for disaster. This is true even when the female is her own cub. So at what age is another female leopard no longer her mother’s cub? Up to a certain age, the cub survives on what its mother gives it and on smaller prey such as guinea fowl. No leopard comes of age until it kills an impala and when a young female protects her prey from her mother, it’s time. Its territory is marked with what is known as a playing field with a heavily defended central area in the center and a less defended outer area around the center.

There is no doubt that leopards are very successful predators, but are they the ultimate predator and are they on the endangered species list? They have honey amber eyes and sharp teeth with deadly intentions. The soft pads cushion their approach, their speed is something to marvel at, and their prowess in the trees is monstrous. The coloration of their fur is spectacular and makes them invisible in the dense foliage of the trees. They are very difficult to see in the wild and censuses are very difficult because these animals are more difficult to locate. In Africa, it is estimated that more than two thousand leopards are still hunted and shot for trophies each year. However, a visit to Mombo Camp in the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana’s Okavango Delta has a reputation as your best bet for seeing a leopard up close … just don’t hold your breath.

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