National Geographic: Eye of the Leopard Page #6

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is a gentle communication,

a tentative introduction and a test

to see if he is friend or foe.

He isn't her enemy.

But this young male carries a

deadly secret within his genes.

This is Burnt Ebony's son.

Her unknown half brother,

and this is their first meeting.

If she encourages him now,

it will change her life

and possibly alter the outcome of a long line

of female hierarchy that only she carries.

But something just isn't right

and she bolts.

Time is her best defense.

At Mombo, males wander 40 miles or more

across a dozen female territories.

The scale and space is in itself

a safeguard against incest.

Perhaps, by the time she

is ready for a mate,

he will be long gone

in search of conquests afar.

One last rite of passage

remains for Legadema.

No leopard has genuinely come of age

until they have killed an impala.

From the beginning, her mother

was an excellent huntress.

And a good teacher.

When Legadema was just 4 months old,

her mother was already passing on that legacy.

Even then, for this

step by step hunting education,

impala was the prey of choice.

It was a vitally important introduction.

She could learn a lot

from a dead animal,

relying on her play instincts

to pounce and attack,

but it was only with a live animal

that she was going to refine that

and see a real example of what it means

"to hunt."

She had a diligent tutor.

This would cement the foundations

of all her hunting skills.

And she tasted the slightly tangy fragrance

of fresh impala in her mouth for the first time.

The cub was still much too enthralled

with the newness of it all.

But something within her

was starting to reveal itself.

Legadema was beginning

to understand the chase,

even the catch.

She recognized that

something else was needed,

but her mother wasn't

helping her understand.

It was a confusing,

hard lesson to learn.

Those first moments of innocent

understanding are exquisite.

The beauty of innocence is in its total acceptance

of life and death in equal measure.

The cubs apparent harshness is no more than

the continuation of a process,

that has been going on since leopards

first evolved 3 and a half million years ago,

a process that builds predators.

Something triggered inside.

The chase and the catch

were merely prelude to "the kill."

Three years of practice

have deposited her here now,

watching a male impala,

her biggest challenge yet.

This will be her final test.

Coming of age ends here!

This is where she earns her birthright.

Eyes like honey,

but with lethal intent.

Teeth honed for the kill.

She is as supple as silk.

A magical coat of fur turns her invisible.

Soft pads cushion her movement

as she floats closer to her prey.

She is focused now,

a product of her instincts,

her experience and her intelligence.

She is ready, the genetic

pinnacle of millions of years.

She has done it!

She can survive now,

thrive anywhere,

a living ghost of the forest.

She is a leopardess at last.

Her mother again.

Haunting the forest with her calls.

It is not over.

Legadema has to approach.

Even though she knows it is dangerous,

she must confront her mother now.

She must either mend the rift or

fight her own mother for space.

If she's forced to leave, she will be cast adrift in

a sea of unfamiliarity to find her own territory.

But as the only cub of her mother,

her legacy is to stay.

Just beyond the ebony forest where she herself

was born, Legadema sees her mother.

It is a fitting arena for

this final confrontation.

Then her mother uses that

special call of hers again.

A disarming call for Legadema.

It's been a secret message between them

since she was 8 days old.

It makes her hesitate.

This isn't the aggression she anticipated.

And then, she knows.

This secret call is not hers anymore.

After all this time, two new cubs.

This changes everything.

The mother sees her one grown cub in

the distance, while nursing her new legacy.

There is no animosity in her eyes, just silent

acceptance of that cycle having been completed.

Legadema is no longer the inheritor.

There are others,

more important to her mother now.

Perhaps it's time for

Legadema to move away,

finally time to create her own legacy.

We admire them,

we fear them.

They are our wild side,

the hunter's spirit of our dreams.

We share an ancient past with these great cats,

that we are now so determined to extinguish.

And yet, like the reflection in those

amber eyes, our fates are linked.

If those eyes close on us forever,

the world will be a sadder

and less wondrous place.

Until we, too, suffer their fate.

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