Leopards of Wilpattu

16th December 2018 at 9.53am a Leopard at Manikkapola Uttu sand patch. N 08.44767, E 079.98300

I was driving down hill towards the sand patch and stopped to observe a pair of Common Kingfisher nesting on the embankment. While we were parked I observed a Leopard move on to the edge of the road about 50 meters ahead of us and moving quickly back in to the jungle. I drove slowly towards the place where the Leopard emerged and observed that it was hiding in the thicket. Thus I drove ahead and stationed the vehicle so that I can photograph expecting the cat to move on to the road again. As expected in less than 5 minutes the young female Leopard moved on to the road looked in our direction for about 30 seconds and moved across the road. Upon examining the spot pattern of this Leopard I was pleased to realize that I had not recorded it earlier in the park and had not received any images of it from any others as well. I estimated its age to be around 2 years. I named it Manikkapola Uttu Female 1 (MPUF 1)