Leopards of Wilpattu

6th October 2023 at 12.24pm one leopard on Kokkare villu upper road. N 08.42297, E 079.98383

The female leopard was moving on to the road that leads to Kuruttupandi Villu. I reversed the vehicle and switched off the engine. The leopard remained on the road briefly and walked in the direction of Kuruttupandi villu but moved into the forest upon the arrival of another safari vehicle. Upon checking its spot pattern, I was quite pleased to note that this is Kokkare Villu Female 1 (KKVFC 1).

7th March 2023 at 11.00am we arrived at the road that leads to Kokkare Villu sand dune and observed the leopard lying on a low horizontal branch of a Madan Tree. N 08.42293, E 079.98325

But unfortunately for me as the vehicle came to a halt the leopard stood up and walked up to a upper branch and was out of sight. I decided to stay as this is the first litter single female cub of the famed Manikrala Uraniya female 1 commonly referred to as the “Kuruttupandi female” by the jeep drivers and had eluded me from the time it was seen with its mother while most other “regulars” to the park had seen it on many occasions. Thankfully the leopard climbed down from the tree, and I managed to get a few good images this young female. I had listed this leopard under Leopards of Wilpattu – Guest section as Kuruttupandi Leopard 1. As this is my first ever sighting, I named it Kokkare Villu female 1 with a code KKVFC 1, for the purpose of my study.