Leopard calls in the night but who!

The night before last at around 3.30am I awoke to the sound of a leopard calling, the loud sawing roar close to the tent at Ingwe's new base, black leopard camp. He continued to call at half hour intervals until sunrise. Early this morning we again heard a leopard calling at around 6am, slightly softer than the previous but still close. As we not yet studied this area yet we are unsure to who this leopard is. On inspection of the area we two different sets of tracks were found from individuals we do not yet recognise. Luckily in the same area, a single camera trap was placed out. A few days earlier an adult zebra was found dead, we think it may hae been fighting with another zebra and on the rocky terrain lost its footing and unfortunately fell and broke its neck. We therefore placed a camera at the carcass to see what scavengers fed. The same night as the leopard first called we photographed an unknown male leopard feeding from the carcass. Quite possibly the same individual that was calling (see above). That same night a family of bush pigs and a small spotted Genet (see below) also scavenged from the carcass. Just shows how the death of one animal, as sad as it is, supplies a lot of food for many others. Will keep you updated as research continues as too who this leopard is. If this was the individual that was calling, he is most likely another territorial male that we previously did not know about.

Written by Emma Loader, Ingwe Researcher