National Geographic: Eye of the Leopard Page #4

---

A leopard, her mother's size,

will stay well clear of the big sows.

They're aggressive and solidly built.

The deep holes in the sand are where

the real little treasures are buried.

It's not as easy as it looks.

If the mothers return,

the leopard is in a...

very vulnerable position!

Her mother was expert at

this kind of hunting.

The strange and unfamiliar meat needed

to be tasted to be appreciated.

But this harvesting of warthogs,

registered in her young mind as a very easy way

to get the most succulent meal in the bush.

And one by one,

they were gathered up that day.

Legadema would have to wait nearly three years

before she could try it for herself.

She is too eager.

The old sow is too quick.

Mistakes may be one way to learn,

but they are also a way to die.

The furtive dash, for the safety of a den,

is what she'd been waiting for.

Now she is back in the game.

In a realm she remembers,

hole hunting.

But with the big pigs around,

who knows for sure,

what exactly is down the hole?

Legadema now has a piglet

exactly where she wants it.

She knows it.

He knows it.

Now, it's just a matter of time.

And she adds her own variation

on the theme of hole hunting.

"In time, somebody's nerve will break."

It is her first warthog kill.

A real hunt,

not just the deep hole collecting that her

mother taught her, but a running attack.

The sows are back.

She swiftly uses that internal

road map to escape effectively.

And behind her,

she has left enough chaos to open a chance

for yet another opportunistic attack.

Technically, this is her piglet as well,

but Legadema has to simply watch the

injustice and be content with what she has.

Warthogs often mount brave

rescues of their young,

but the jackal's kill today

only attracts two young males.

Their interest may be

less heroic than sinister.

Warthogs do eat meat sometimes,

even injured or dead piglets!

Eventually, tension eases,

and the forest seems to relax again.

It's been another "first" for Legadema on her

journey from adolescent to adult leopardess.

More and more she is gaining

control of her surroundings,

perhaps even learning skills

beyond squirrel hunting.

And in a moment of elation,

she erupts into play,

the reaction of a young predator still suspended

in time somewhere between killer and cub.

That distinctive spot of hers has blood on it.

And as always,

she is being watched.

All it takes is a glance.

A perfect vertical ascent.

There are seldom private

moments for Legadema.

Hyenas follow her around all the time,

just in case an opportunity for a free meal arises.

The swirling pre-storm breeze, carrying the

scent of fresh blood, gave her away this time.

The violent tropical rains, so typical of this season,

will wash away the old scents and clear the air.

The renewed forest will be like

a fresh candidates for nature's art.

It will also wipe clean

any sign of her mother.

And Legadema will have to

start her search again.

If the rain persists,

her hunting will be more difficult.

If she can't hunt, she doesn't

have a family to hunt for her.

In bad weather,

there is no-one else to lean on,

no warm kin to shelter with

against the outside world.

For leopards, the stakes are always high.

But Legadema is not alone.

Another leopard!

Right in the heart of her territory.

She has moved in under the cover of rain.

Once again, Legadema transforms.

She bristles with indignation,

ready for battle.

This will be the fight of her life.

In her territory Legadema has

surprise and aggression on her side,

but she is small.

She must use every advantage against

the older cat she is about to take on.

She needs to make

herself appear larger.

The intruder's attack is confident and

clinical, much faster than expected.

Unfortunately, it is a case

of mistaken identity.

This is no intruder,

but the queen of all this land.

She has just challenged her own mother!

And has taken a beating as a result.

Her mother's rage is obvious,

even to the hyenas that are shadowing

the leopards more and more each day.

It is a rage born from

a daughter's insolence.

Legadema's error of judgment

can be blamed on the rain,

but this conflict has been

brewing for a long time.

Two females sharing a territory

is a formula for disaster.

They are now locked in a terrible

and terrifying relationship.

If Legadema is to be allowed

safe passage here at all,

she will have to be very careful

about these meetings in the future,

or the violence between them

will only escalate.

But how could the bond between

them have unraveled so badly?

It all started a year and a half ago.

Legadema was not yet two years old.

She was feeling more confident each day,

surviving quite well on squirrels

between meals that her mother provided.

But she was still totally dependent

on her mother.

Nearly two years after the traumatic

baboon attack on her den,

she was well aware of the dangers

of being seen by the troop.

She'd had to retreat just too often.

The distant calls of a baboons

still made her skin twitch,

an instant reaction to run and hide.

While the baboon troop was secure in its success

in scaring their local leopards into submission.

The brew of hormones and well

exercised instincts boiled inside her,

and forced her forward.

Although they told her to run,

something else urged her to go closer

and learn more about her adversaries.

The alpha male is always the biggest threat.

His forward-looking eyes

scan in three dimensions.

Apes have evolved stereoscopic vision,

to be able to accurately judge distance

and detail for leaping through the trees,

but this also makes them better at

combing the bushes with quick darting eyes.

They're intelligent enough to piece together an

image of a leopard from small bits of information.

The shape of an ear is enough for them to assemble

an image in their minds, and scream an alarm.

And bring the alpha male closer to his ambition,

to kill a leopard.

It was madness!

A wild and reckless risk.

But by some miracle of fate,

Legadema silenced the baboon before

the enormous troop could notice.

In that instant, Legadema,

the curious cub,

made one of

her many transformations.

She was suddenly a slayer

of her most feared enemy.

Quite suddenly,

this already momentous kill

took an amazing twist.

Something moved in the

dead baboon's fur.

A day old newborn.

It took a moment for

Legadema to notice.

She has always been curious.

But instead of a swift bite to the neck,

Legadema stopped...

then lay down with the baboon.

She didn't know how to react.

Hyenas would normally send her

scurrying for the trees, but this time,

she gently lifted the baby

to safety first.

Only then did she return

to confront the hyena.

It was an aggressive defense,

protecting the baby,

not defending her kill.

Legadema's eyes

never left the baby for hours,

and, strangely, this newborn

started following her everywhere,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes