Leopards of Wilpattu

2nd October 2024 at 9.45am one Leopard at Nelum Wila Pitiya. N 08.40593, E 079.98786

I dove into Nelum Wila pitiya and observed several vehicles parked ahead of me as they had spotted two leopards in the thicket. I parked at the back expecting the leopards to move out into the open. Within a few minutes a Palm Squirrel started to give out an alarm call from across the open glade and a young male leopard was seen across the “pitiya”. He moved in the direction where the other two leopards had been seen. I managed to get some images as the leopard hurriedly walked and leapt over a small pool of water. It was quite evident from his behaviour that the cub was responding to its mother’s call. Female leopards employ a low frequency growl to call their cubs. Later upon examining its spot pattern I noted that it is one of the two cubs of Nelum Wila Female 2 NWF 2. I have received images of two cubs of this female since they were first seen in October 2023 but had not seen them until today. They are one year and four months of age now. As it is my first sighting of this young leopard, I named it Nelum Wila Pitiya Male 2 with the code NWPMC 2.