A leopard in the boma (Inwisi)

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We all froze as the leopard walked through the boma.  Silence.  Only the cicada beetles with their ear piercing screams filled the air.  She walked regally around the tables threading her way back towards the exit.  Paraffin lanterns flickered and human eyes blinked at this unexpected dinner guest.
We knew her well.  She had a male cub of about 8 to 10 months old and they were always good value at a sighting as she calmly ignored our landrovers.

After rushing through a delicious dinner we quickly made our way to the landie and with Richard on the trackers seat we followed her tracks.  Like a bolt from nowhere she suddenly streaked across our spotlight beam, right in front of the vehicle and tackled a big male impala to our left.

Excitement filled the air……………… but something was not right.  She held onto the impala for a few seconds then suddenly let go.  She limped off.  Dread replaced the adrenalin flowing through our veins.  What had happened?  What had gone wrong?
We tried following her tracks, but she had limped off into a thicket.  We searched till about midnight then finally gave up vowing to continue the search at first light.  

My friend and colleague Paddy and I set up a grid pattern around the area we thought she could be.  Our trackers Richard and Enoc scoured the ground for tell-tale signs.  Paddy went off in one direction and I in another.   Richard and Enoc moved into the thick bush and about two minutes later I heard the unmistakable sound of a 458 rifle shot. 
“Oh  God!” I thought, “ Richard has shot her.”  Paddy and I ran to the thicket where the shot had come from.  There we found Richard with the rifle in his hand.  Enoc was standing next to him and the leopard was spitting and clawing at the ground around their feet.  She had sprung out at them and was in a fierce temper.  Luckily Richard was a better tracker than hunter, and his shot had missed her completely.

Getting back to our vehicle as quickly as possible we radioed the lodge and explained the situation to the General Manager Michel Girardin.  The decision was made to phone the vet at Skukuza. There was a strict policy about man interfering with the health of wild animals in their natural environment.  If an animal was hurt, diseased or otherwise injured during their natural pursuit of daily living the vets do not interfere. This can sometimes be a heartbreaking policy when these sickly animals are seen daily – deteriorating slowly into the inevitable result of death – either from predation or weakness.
As she had hurt herself from running through my spot light - thus causing the injury from human interference - the vets came out and were prepared to dart and treat her at their facility in Skukuza.  Richard went off with the vet to dart her while Paddy and I remained with the vehicles.  The darting went off smoothly and she was transported to Skukuza to be operated on.  It transpired that she had broken her leg rather badly.  The leg was set and she was released into an enclosure where she spent the next three months.

Now the true dilemma began.  We had a small cub that had been weaned, but was still totally reliant on his mother for food.  I took it upon myself to see that he was fed at least once a week.  As I did all the culling for the lodge I illegally shot one impala a week which I hung up in a tree in the area that the cub had last been seen.  The sneaking around didn’t last for long.  The rangers at Sabi Sabi were on the ball, and my tracks were soon discovered.  We sat down with Chris Kruger who was the head ranger at the time and discussed the situation.  My activities were sanctioned  and I continued to feed the cub on a regular basis.
The cub was about a year old and I knew that I now had to embark on another illegal venture.  I had to see if he was able to kill for himself .  We were following him one night on game drive when we spotted a scrub hare in the road.  I told Richard to keep the hare in the spotlight, thus blinding it.  The hare continued running in the beam of the light and was soon spotted by the cub who gave chase and killed the hare swiftly and quite expertly.  It was with a very happy heart that we left him that night in the sure knowledge that he would survive. 

My friend Marcus had just returned from Hong Kong where he had purchased some beautiful camera equipment.  We were keen to test it all out and were in the habit of going out early each morning before anyone else was awake.  One beautiful spring morning we were up before sunrise and drove to the site where a lioness had made a kill the night before.  To our surprise there was the cub – up a tree – with the remains of the warthog that the lioness had killed the previous evening. Only skin and bone remained.  We took some magnificent shots of the cub with the carcass and returned to the lodge to collect my guests. 
Michel was convinced that I had chased the lion off the kill so that the cub could claim the carcass – and to this day he still won’t believe that the cub managed to scavenge it for himself.
Back at Skukuza the female leopards leg had healed and she was tranquilised and returned to Sabi Sabi.  I was there when she was released, and it was truly a memorable experience for me.  The cage door was opened and she slowly sniffed the ground and quite calmly walked away.  She knew she was home!  She smelt her cub in the wind and went straight to him where another jaw-dropping event occurred. 

He recognised her immediately and went up to her.  Expecting a happy reunion we were all OOhing and AAhing when she began initiating a mating ritual with him.  He was clearly distressed and disinterested and soon moved off.  They were never seen together again although they both remained in the same area.
It was not customary to name the animals at Sabi Sabi, but a few very special ones had names.  These two leopards were very special indeed and Richard and I named the female “Stick – in – yow” which loosely translated means “stick foot” as was evident from her tracks and the way she now walked by twisting her one foot inwards.  The cub we named “Ingwisi” which is a combination of the Shangaan word Ingwe meaning Leopard and Mpisi which means Hyena.  He was very skilled at turning up at any fresh kill made and would scavenge what he could.   He could smell a kill from miles around and we were sure to catch a glimpse of him sneaking up behind the lions and running off with his prize. 
Stick-in-yow lived to a ripe old age giving pleasure to many a guest at Sabi Sabi as well as us rangers who saw her on a virtually daily basis.  As far as I know, Ingwisi is still resident in the area and has grown into a magnificent specimen of his species.

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