Safari Sunday: Not-safe-for-work
On our first game drive at Kwara Camp in the Okavango Delta, our guide seemed to drive straight to this pair of mating leopards. Apparently on their morning drive, the guide and tracker had heard the sounds of the leopards, but had to call off their search to get their guests to the airstrip on time. So, they knew the general area where the leopards should be. The leopards were still there in the evening.
We learned that leopards mate for about 5 days straight. Over that time, they mate on average once every 15 minutes (!). We watched for at least a half hour, and they went at it 3-4 times while we were there. It is very violent – in my pictures of the female, I can see lots of fresh wounds. In fact, after the session pictured here, my pictures showed a brand new wound on her head from that bite. It is very quick, but also very painful for the female.
After we’d had our fill, the guide told the other trucks from our camp where the leopards were. Once another truck arrived, we moved on.