The morning after spending the afternoon with Notch (28th June) we decided to dedicate some time to ‘Operation Leopard’ and to hopefully catch up with some more familiar ‘faces’. We decided that we would take the opportunity and look for Olive and her most recent cub and/or perhaps even Paja or Nkayioni, both around 2 years old and Olives previous set of offspring. Whilst we did not want to just concentrate our Leopard ‘efforts’ on this trip to just finding Olive et al (after all there of course MANY other Leopards in the Mara and not just the known ‘personalities’!) we decided that as most of them had been seen recently it was a good place to start and we wanted to catch up with her and her offspring at some point during our time on the North side of the river.
We make it sound as if finding Leopards is easy, it's most definitely not!, you often have to ‘do the time’ before you have any success. We knew that if we concentrated our efforts in prime/typical Leopard habitat, ‘thought’ like a Leopard and stuck to the area that they were all last seen we would increase our chances! It’s true also that sometimes you can also just ‘get lucky’, but we were happy to ‘put in the time’ and hope for success, if not we had tried our best. Even if we did not find Leopard there is always something of interest to see in the Mara even if its not the spotty kind, you never know what you may come across in paradise!
We had seen and heard recent reports from both Paul Kirui and Jackson that Nkayioni was often seen still ‘loitering’ around Olive. He is clearly not quite ready to fully break the bond with mum even though Olive now has more pressing concerns raising her one surviving cub [who we think must now be circa 6 months old and the only surviving cub from her original litter of two]. Indeed his relationship with Olive seems rather reminiscent of how Chui was filmed/documented as a true ‘mummy’s boy’ and stayed with Big Cat Diary ‘Star’ Bella for sometime before finally venturing out into his own new territory, possibly over in the Mara Triangle.
Paja on the other hand has embraced independence a little more and from what we understand is now in an area still close by to Olive, and we believe (although we could be wrong) has not been seen with Olive for some time. Although a little while yet she will hopefully, in the not to distant future be starting a family of her own.
So, back to “Operation Leopard’. We had been given information that Olive and Co (that had included Nkayioni) had last been seen a day or so ago around the Olare Orok river and more specifically an area known as ‘Smelly Crossing’. For those who don’t know this area it is so called as when the river is low and lacks any decent flow or recent rainfall it kicks up quite a stink that is a real attack on the nasal senses and with a strong aroma of Ammonia/festering Hippo dung is certainly not a pleasant one!. We had heard that Paja on the other hand had been seen much further upstream and quite some time ago so traveling upstream from this area seemed a good place to start. It was around 7am that we got to the Smelly crossing area. We moved in an upstream direction and as slowly and as close as the tracks would allow us to the dense riverine foliage. Whilst also casting an eye over back over the plains in case one of the Leopards were returning from a hunting ‘sortie’. Giraffes, Impala, Jackal and Warthog but no Leopard. The forest was quiet apart from the sound of many bird species, the animals grazed and browsed peacefully and there was not an alarm call to be heard. That was until we turned a bend, around 1.5-2km from ‘Smelly Crossing’.
There sat a Leopard, as we drew in closer we could see it was a young boy, around 2 years of age and one that we soon recognised after a few moments. Mission accomplished we had found Nkayioni. We stopped at a distance that would hopefully not spook him or alter his behavior. It’s true that this handsome young chap is now somewhat habituated to vehicles compared to leopard found in other areas. Even still treating him with the respect he deserved we virtually moved in slow motion within the vehicle as we endeavored to mobilise the cameras as quietly (but as fast) as possible before he could retreat back into the thick vegetation.
However, he was undisturbed by our presence, just us and Nkayioni! Did it get any better than this? As he cast his eye across the plains, with the sun rising behind the hazy cloud he was now showing signs he wanted to hunt. It was not long until his gaze soon became locked onto two warthogs. The grass was so long you could only see just their ears. He wanted breakfast and Warthog was now on the menu. He soon rose from his placid state and limbered up with a long stretch before he moved slowly with stealth and patience toward his quarry on the plains. As he did he calmly walked within just a few feet from our vehicle, barely even giving us a passing glimpse. He was focused with absolute precision on the Warthogs. Moments like this don’t always come along very often, sharing time with him, without other cars and seeing a Leopard so relaxed are just pure bliss. This is the time to put the camera down and enjoy being so close to such a beautiful and magnificent animal as he as sauntered calmly past the front of our car. He soon disappeared into the long grass and until just a few feet away the Warthog had remained totally unaware that they were next on the menu.
However, today was their lucky day, just in time they caught sight of Nkayioni and bolted down a nearby hole. You could almost read the frustration on face. Nkayioni looked around, looking somewhat ‘bemused’, but other than the warthog the plains were bare. So a few moments later he retreated back toward us and to where we had first found him, the grass being so long that at times all you could see was his tailing flicking in frustration!
So, Warthog was not on the breakfast menu today for after Nkayioni. Stopping for one last glance around the plains he then continued into the thick wooded area, stopping for a quick wash under a shady bush where we could just about make out his beautiful coat which seemed to merge seamlessly with the environment. We knew that we were now going to lose him and soon enough we did.
He had paraded in front of us, he had given us a good show, all without other vehicles. This was now Nkayioni’s time and time for us to leave him be. Maybe he was off to find a shady tree for the day. All of that excitement meant we were hungry by now to and off to find a nice spot to cook some breakfast ‘ALA’ Skinner style’ (Sausages and egg sandwich by the river!)
Smelly Crossing
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