Monday, November 19, 2012
Back at Yala after many years- Leopard feeding at Welmalkema, Yala National Park
One of my most memorable encounters with a leopard was during September
2009 when I was on a 5 day long road trip with my father and his friend
Uncle Stefan.
We went to Galle for one night and thereafter spent two nights in Yala. During the 2nd morning we came across a leopard in Welmalkema. In a few minutes it vanished from our sight. Thereafter we were driving along this lonely stretch of road when we came across a heavily decayed sambhur carcass laid across the road. We had obviously disturbed a leopard who was trying to drag its kill away. We decided to park the jeep in a corner and have a stakeout. The stench was unbearable, I felt like throwing out, but had to bear with the stench in expectation of the reward to come.
After about half an hour the shy feline (probably the cub of the leopard we saw on the rock at Welmalkema), came onto the road and slowly dragged the carcass to a corner and started feeding. It was a lovely sight to see, this young female out in the open despite the unpleasant odor.
Back then I was sharing the old Canon 350D with my father and after consistent begging he reluctantly handed the camera over to me, resulting in the below image.
After a good 10 minutes an approaching jeep scared the leopard away. This was one of the closest sightings I have had in a long time as I was on a long hiatus due to my studies. Finally I was back where I belong.
We went to Galle for one night and thereafter spent two nights in Yala. During the 2nd morning we came across a leopard in Welmalkema. In a few minutes it vanished from our sight. Thereafter we were driving along this lonely stretch of road when we came across a heavily decayed sambhur carcass laid across the road. We had obviously disturbed a leopard who was trying to drag its kill away. We decided to park the jeep in a corner and have a stakeout. The stench was unbearable, I felt like throwing out, but had to bear with the stench in expectation of the reward to come.
After about half an hour the shy feline (probably the cub of the leopard we saw on the rock at Welmalkema), came onto the road and slowly dragged the carcass to a corner and started feeding. It was a lovely sight to see, this young female out in the open despite the unpleasant odor.
Back then I was sharing the old Canon 350D with my father and after consistent begging he reluctantly handed the camera over to me, resulting in the below image.
After a good 10 minutes an approaching jeep scared the leopard away. This was one of the closest sightings I have had in a long time as I was on a long hiatus due to my studies. Finally I was back where I belong.
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