Not all spotted cats in trees are leopards
I learnt an important lesson this week,
that not all spotted cats in trees are leopards.
I discovered this whilst out having a
lovely stroll with the ‘cheetah boys’, my number one favourite pastime. We were
moseying along, them sniffing and scent-marking at various spots along the road,
me watching and collecting data on their behaviour.
After about 30 minutes the boys changed
course and headed off the road into the block. I knew there were a couple of
other groups heading to the sighting hoping to also have the magical experience
of walking with wild cheetah, so I stopped to make a mark in the road so they
would be able to follow our trio into the bushes. Whilst doing this and letting
everyone know our movements over the radio I took my eyes off the cheetah for a
minute and when I looked up again I couldn’t see them anywhere. Rats! This is
very annoying! First of all because I was very much enjoying being with the
boys and secondly because I didn’t want to lose them before the other groups
arrived.
So, determined to relocate them I headed
into the block along the course I had last seen them on. I went about 100m
looking and listening for any sign of these cats who are adept at moving
stealthily and silently through the bush. Then I hear rustling a few metres
ahead of me but not coming from ground level, up in the canopy of a large
marula tree. I glance up and just make
out the black-spotted pelt amongst the leaves. “Blimey”, I think to myself, is
it really possible that I have bumped into a leopard whilst walking with the
cheetah?! But whilst this thought is working its way through my brain my eyes
focus more clearly on the animal that is teetering and looking highly ungraceful
in the fork of the tree and I realise with some surprise that it is not the
spotty rosettes of a leopard but the cheetah boys trying their hand at tree
climbing.
Rosie Miles
Base Manager
GVI Karongwe
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