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16th October 2022 at 4.30pm 2 leopards close to the Spotted Deer kill at Panikkar villu. N 08.39850, E 079.95758
They were about 20 feet from the kill but were hardly visible due to the foliage. With much difficulty I managed to get a few record images of the adult female adequate to study her spot pattern. As expected, it was Panikkar Villu Female 2 (PVFC 2). Despite being able to observe her cub which was lying close to her there was no opportunity for me to get any images due to it being covered with a curtain of foliage. Thus, I drove down towards the Panikkar Villu bungalow and waited for about 5 minutes before returning. Thankfully the curious cub had moved and was watching me from an opening in the foliage permitting me to get a few clear images of its head. This is my first sighting of this cub. It was a male cub of about one year. I named it Panikkar Villu Male 2 with the code (PVMC 2) for the purpose of my study.
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2nd February 2020 at 8.20am three leopards at Aalam Villu. N 08.40289, E 079.95450
We drove down to Aalam Villu and spotted an adult female Leopard lying down on a small sand patch across the water body. Two other young female leopards were seen to our right and were walking towards the female. Their walk would suddenly break in to a sprint, as one would playfully chase the other. Upon reaching their mother the two cubs started to rub their heads against her. After a few minutes the adult female stood up and moved in the direction of the forest followed by one cub. The other was still lying down on the sand patch. Having walked up to the forest edge the adult female turned and looked back at the cub still lying down. Almost instantly the cub walked up to her mother. There after they all moved in to the forest. Later upon examination of their spot patterns I was able to identify the mother as the Panikkar Villu Female 2 (PVFC 2). I had photographed this female in January 2015 at Panikkar Villu sand patch when she was a cub of 5 months. In August 2017 I observed her with an adult male (Aalam Villu Male 2) at Aalam Villu. There after in November 2018 I was fortunate enough to see her two cubs for the first time at Panikkar Villu when they were about 4 months of age. I was only able to photograph one of them then and named it Panikkar Villu Female 3 (PVFC 3). Upon receiving images of the other cub from those who share their images with me I have listed it under Leopards of Wilpattu – Guest section as Panikkar Villu Leopard 3. I was thrilled with this sighting as this female is quite elusive. Until now I was not able to determine the mother of these two cubs, as I had not received any images of them with their mother. The mother is 5 years and 4 months and the cubs a year and six months of age as at now. As this is my first sighting of the second cub I named it Panikkar Villu Female 4 (PVFC 4). (with guide Hashan Madushanka)
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19th August 2017 at 3.00pm two Leopards at Aalam Villu. N 08.40158, E 079.95377
We drove down to Aalam Villu, which has completely dried up, and I started to survey the forest edge with my binoculars. To my sheer delight I spotted two leopards lying down at the edge of the forest across the dried up villu. One was a female and the other an adult male. Later upon examining the images I was able to identify the female as Panikkar Villu Female 2 PVFC 2. The male was about 6 years of age and this is my first sighting of this leopard. I named it Aalam Villu Male 2 AVM 2.
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Even though we did not observe mating I suspected them to be a mating pair. In a few minutes the female moved in to the forest and the male was fast asleep. After about 12 minutes the male rolled over and in the process detected the presence of my vehicle. It looked in our direction and moved quickly in to the forest. We decided to do a short park round and come back to give the animals time to move back in to the open.
5.00pm we arrived at Aalam Villu and spotted the two leopards close to where they were seen earlier. The male was asleep sprawled on the soft sand and the female was by him but quite alert. Having looked in our direction for few minutes the female moved under a bush where she was partly visible. The male was oblivious to the arrival of our vehicle. After a few minutes two other vehicles arrived and the male looked in our direction and moved close to where the female was seated.
5.24pm then both of them walked together in to the thicket and out of sight. This time I was able to get better images of them. (with guide D.M.Wasantha)
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3rd January 2015 at 5.44pm PVFC 2 at Panikkar Villu sand patch. It was a female cub and I estimated the age to be around 5-6 months. N 08.39692, E 079.95677
It was a shy animal and moved in to the forest as we spotted it. I stopped the engine and waited patiently. After about 10 minutes Dinesh spotted the leopard close to where in entered the forest. I managed to get a few photos. After a few minutes it moved in to the forest again. We drove down to the villu and as we arrived back spotted it on the road but moved behind some bushes. I stopped the vehicle permitting the animal to relax. After a few minutes it was interested an Indian Nightjar that perched on the open sand and moved out of the bush permitting me to take a few photos. This is my first sighting of this cub and I named it Panikkar Villu Female 2 (PVFC 2). ( With Guide Loku Dinesh)
