Romance in the Air?

Sightings of our resident male leopard were sparse early this season. Fearing the worst we have consistently kept an eye out for him at the lodge watering hole hoping to catch a glimpse and confirm that he is still with us. We had almost given up hope when early one evening our night-watch man came to inform us that there were two lions on the road, very close to camp. We silently made our way to the car and set off up the road to find the lions, alas, there were no lions in sight. What we did find though was our resident male leopard with, what we believe to be, a female leopard in the thicket just outside the boundaries to the lodge. After watching them disappear into the bush we made our way to the watering hole, just in case, and were rewarded with the sight of our resident male quenching his thirst with the female lingering in the background. This sighting was exciting for two reasons, firstly that our resident male is well and still situated close to the lodge which has been the start of many more sightings this season. And secondly that this appears to be a mating pair who will stay in the area during their ‘courtship’, with frequent romantic outings to our water hole we hope!