Leopards of Wilpattu

6th October 2024 at 10.50am one leopard on the road between Tala Wila and Pill Motte. N 08.384419, E 079.92537

It was a female leopard and was lying on the road. I parked about 60 meters from the leopard and started to get a few images. She was quite relaxed but moved into the forest after about 10 minutes. Later upon checking her spot pattern I note that it was Kombansanchaipooval Female 2 (KSPFC 2). My last sighting of this seldom seen female was on the 29th of March 2022 on the same road but about 2 KM from Tala Wila.

It was a young male and a female. They were lying on the road. I stopped the vehicle about 40 meters from them and started to photograph. The dappled light was quite harsh, but I managed to get some images to enable me to identify the leopards. The female, obviously in eustress, was doing her best to initiate mating while the young male appeared much less interested. On a few occasions the female approached the male while growling and caressed his body with her body and tail, but he refused to mount and mate. Thereafter the male started to walk in the direction Pill Motte followed by the female but were disturbed by the arrival of a vehicle and moved into the forest. It was my friend Mr. Namal Kamalgoda. After some time, the female walked on to the road briefly but walked back. Two safari jeeps heading towards Eluwankulama turned up requiring me to move the vehicle to allow them to pass. Guests in the two jeeps had reasonable views of the leopards in the jungle and moved on. I turned the vehicle and parked alongside that of Namal’s and waited. Within a few minutes the male walked on to the road followed by the female. It was wonderful to observe the interaction between these two leopards. Despite much interest expressed by the female they mated only once. Around midday they moved into the forest. Later upon examination of the spot pattern I was able to identify the two leopards. This is my first sighting of this male. It is the Pomparippu Road Leopard 1 on my site under leopards of Wilpattu – guest section. I named this leopard Pomparippu Road Male 1 for the purpose of my study with the code (PPRM 1). The female is Kombansanchaipooval Female 2 (KSPFC 2).  My last sighting of her was in November 2017 at Kombansanchaipooval.

19th November 2017 at 1.34pm one Leopard between Tala Wila and Kombansanchaipooval sand patch. N 08.38546, E 079.94999

The leopard was by the side of the road and swiftly moved in to the forest. It was a female cub and I estimated its age to be around one year. As it moved in to the forest I managed to get a few images adequate enough to identify the animal. Later upon examination of the images I was able to identify it as the Kombansanchaipooval Leopard 2 listed under ‘Leopards of Wilpattu – Guest section”. I named it Kombansanchaipooval Female 2 ( KSPFC 2). (with guide Tissa Ratnayake)