Leopards of Wilpattu

3rd September 2021 at 4.05pm 3 Leopards between Borupan junction and Walas Wala. N 08.41641, E 080.02534

I arrived at Borupan junction from Borupan Wila and turned the vehicle towards Walas Wala. There were two leopard cubs and a female on the road. The cubs ran in to the forest, but the adult female remained. I immediately turned off the engine and started to photograph the leopard on the road. After about 6 minutes one cub slowly walked towards the mother. It was a female cub of about 4 months. She greeted the cub by licking her back and the cub responded by caressing her with its tail which is so typical of leopard behaviour. The cub sat beside its mother offering me an opportunity to make a few good images. In a few minutes the cub was alerted by a movement in the forest and walked in that direction. As she did the second cub trotted across the road and moved into the forest. It would have been great if this cub at least stopped briefly permitting me to get a few images. The mother and the cub that remained on the road also walked thereafter into the forest. I was not able get any images of the second cub except for a record shot as it ran across the road. The second cub looked a male. Later upon examination of the spot pattern I was pleased to note that this is Walas Wala Female 4 (WWF 4) on my site. I have records of this female from April 2019. My first sighting of her was in July 2020 where I estimated her age to be around 4 and a half years. There was no record of her having any previous litter. Thus, it is very likely that this is her first litter. I named the single cub that I was able to photograph Walas Wala Female 5 with the code (WWFC 5) for the purpose of my study.

4th July 2020 at 4.52pm one Leopard at Walas Wala. N 08.41419, E 080.03077
A leopard was drinking from a pool across the bund from Walas Wala. It was a female leopard and was partly covered by the foliage. Later upon examination of the spot pattern I realized that it is Borupan Junction Leopard 1 that is listed under Leopards of Wilpattu – Guest section on my site.  This female leopard had eluded me for a long time and I was please to have finally captured some images of her despite them being of very poor quality. I estimated her age to be around 4 years and six months. For the purpose of my study I named it Walas Wala Female 4 (WWF 4).