Leopard
All rights reserved.
No publication without written permission of the photographer.
Location: Botswana
Photographer: © Pia Dierickx
One of nature’s most extraordinary cats can still be found deep in the flooded marshlands in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. An ultimate predator, nearly silent, at times invisible, but when one can get close enough, always strikingly beautiful. Within this harsh environment, the leopard Legadema continues to flourish.
Dereck and Beverly Joubert are the award-winning husband-and-wife filmmakers and National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence from Botswana, with five Emmys and a Peabody to their names. Their mission is the conservation and understanding of the large predators and key African wildlife species that determine the course of all conservation in Africa. They have been filming, researching and exploring in Africa for over 25 years. Their coverage of unique predator behavior has resulted in films, books and many articles for National Geographic magazine.
One day, under their watchful eyes, emerged one particular cat with a birthmark that distinguishes her from all others and they nicknamed her Legadema or “Light from the Sky.” You can identify her by the small round mark on the right side of her face, in her whisker line.
When Legadema first wobbled her way into the sunlight at only eight days old, Dereck and Beverly Joubert, were there. Over the next three years, they captured a remarkably intimate and gripping story of survival in wild, unspoiled Africa.
They have been tracking Legadema since she was just 8 days old and have created a documentary special called Eye of the Leopard that was featured on the National Geographic channel. Additionally, the April 2007 issue of National Geographic had a feature story about the movie, book and adventure of Legadema.
I would like to quote the text “Raising a leopard” by Dereck Joubert, published in April 2007.
© 2009 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.
“She was eight days old when we spotted her. Her eyes were still milky gray and she wobbled slightly. Emerging into the sunlight from her den, she seemed curious and bold, taking no notice of screeching squirrels. Her mother had lost five previous cubs to hyenas, baboons and other predators. What would happen to this one?
Unlike lions or cheetahs, leopards are secretive, solitary cats. Without a family to depend on, they hunt alone, slinking through the shadows, surviving on stealth and intelligence. Finding any leopard is difficult, so when we discovered this mother and cub in the thick groves of ebony and acacia trees at Mombo, an area in Botswana's Okavango Delta, we decided to follow the little one as she grew up.
From her first days, Legadema was under constant threat. Whether it was a troop of baboons that tried to drag both mother and daughter out of their den, or the lurking hyenas, death was never far away. Lions, a significant threat to young leopards, thrive in this part of the Moremi Game Reserve. But none of this kept Legadema from exploring the forest on her own when her mother left her alone for days at a time to bring back meat. Wherever Legadema went, velvet monkeys with darting eyes spotted her a mile off and squirrels set up alarm calls. In time, these incidents only made her better at concealment and stealth.
Her mother, a patient teacher, instructed Legadema in the skills she would need to survive as a predator: how to pin down prey and where to clamp on their throats with her jaws to suffocate them. Only after mastering these and many other lessons would she grow into the solitary hunter that all leopards must one day become.”
By Dereck Joubert
I am so amazed that I actually got pictures of this particular leopard and I would like to share them with you!
No publication without written permission of the photographer.
Location: Botswana
Photographer: © Pia Dierickx
One of nature’s most extraordinary cats can still be found deep in the flooded marshlands in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. An ultimate predator, nearly silent, at times invisible, but when one can get close enough, always strikingly beautiful. Within this harsh environment, the leopard Legadema continues to flourish.
Dereck and Beverly Joubert are the award-winning husband-and-wife filmmakers and National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence from Botswana, with five Emmys and a Peabody to their names. Their mission is the conservation and understanding of the large predators and key African wildlife species that determine the course of all conservation in Africa. They have been filming, researching and exploring in Africa for over 25 years. Their coverage of unique predator behavior has resulted in films, books and many articles for National Geographic magazine.
One day, under their watchful eyes, emerged one particular cat with a birthmark that distinguishes her from all others and they nicknamed her Legadema or “Light from the Sky.” You can identify her by the small round mark on the right side of her face, in her whisker line.
When Legadema first wobbled her way into the sunlight at only eight days old, Dereck and Beverly Joubert, were there. Over the next three years, they captured a remarkably intimate and gripping story of survival in wild, unspoiled Africa.
They have been tracking Legadema since she was just 8 days old and have created a documentary special called Eye of the Leopard that was featured on the National Geographic channel. Additionally, the April 2007 issue of National Geographic had a feature story about the movie, book and adventure of Legadema.
I would like to quote the text “Raising a leopard” by Dereck Joubert, published in April 2007.
© 2009 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.
“She was eight days old when we spotted her. Her eyes were still milky gray and she wobbled slightly. Emerging into the sunlight from her den, she seemed curious and bold, taking no notice of screeching squirrels. Her mother had lost five previous cubs to hyenas, baboons and other predators. What would happen to this one?
Unlike lions or cheetahs, leopards are secretive, solitary cats. Without a family to depend on, they hunt alone, slinking through the shadows, surviving on stealth and intelligence. Finding any leopard is difficult, so when we discovered this mother and cub in the thick groves of ebony and acacia trees at Mombo, an area in Botswana's Okavango Delta, we decided to follow the little one as she grew up.
From her first days, Legadema was under constant threat. Whether it was a troop of baboons that tried to drag both mother and daughter out of their den, or the lurking hyenas, death was never far away. Lions, a significant threat to young leopards, thrive in this part of the Moremi Game Reserve. But none of this kept Legadema from exploring the forest on her own when her mother left her alone for days at a time to bring back meat. Wherever Legadema went, velvet monkeys with darting eyes spotted her a mile off and squirrels set up alarm calls. In time, these incidents only made her better at concealment and stealth.
Her mother, a patient teacher, instructed Legadema in the skills she would need to survive as a predator: how to pin down prey and where to clamp on their throats with her jaws to suffocate them. Only after mastering these and many other lessons would she grow into the solitary hunter that all leopards must one day become.”
By Dereck Joubert
I am so amazed that I actually got pictures of this particular leopard and I would like to share them with you!