Yearning for the spotlight… or just well spotted?
By
Le Roux Schoeman | Published 23 July 2010
Debbie Cooper caught this rare moment on camera: A leopard, crocodile and a number of hippos sharing a river bank at Lake St Lucia
Date: 23 July 2010
Is the normally shy leopard raising its profile at Africa’s largest estuary?
A leopard that was recently photographed as it strolled past a crocodile and a huddle of hippos near Lake St Lucia in northern KwaZulu-Natal has lead some conservationists there to believe so.
“We have had a flurry of leopard activity over the past few days,” says Debbie Cooper, liaison officer at iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
Debbie, who took this photograph during an afternoon estuary boat cruise on the weekend, describes the sighting as “extremely rare”.
“The leopard walked slowly towards the croc’s tail before seemingly changing its mind and slipping back among the mangroves,” she says.
Although iSimangaliso boasts the greatest congregation of hippo and crocodiles in South Africa, a hat-trick sighting like this is indeed something special, Greg Lederle, a professional field guide, concurs.
“You’ll probably have to wait 20 years to take a picture like this again,” says Lederle, who was recently voted SA Tourism’s Guide of the Year in the national category of the Welcome Awards.
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