It is a struggle to capture leopard pictures at this point. We are heading towards the end of the dry season and somehow animal movements have been altered. I cannot say this with confidence because I am currently sampling the southern part of the concession, which is a rugged terrain and has a limited number of roads. At the same time however, water is the limiting factor for most animals and as a result their movements should be in association with the distribution of water points.

The kudus are hit the worst because there are no leaves for them to browse on, so they are dying. This is further exacerbated by their tendency to panic, which drains them of a lot of energy (I think!). For their sake I hope it rains soon.

The vultures on the other hand are thriving; this is by far their best time of the year.

The burnt camera was fixed and it is now working properly, sort of. The problem was with the burnt screen, which was blocking out the lens. I was sitting with Jared Glasson, one of the guides from Singita Kruger National Park when we started brainstorming about fixing the camera.

Jared used to be an engineer before he decided to become a guide. He is some kind of a brainiac. After throwing ideas around, we decided that the camera’s problem was with the screen. We then decided to remove the screen and replace it with laminating sheets.

Jared fixing the burnt camera trap.

Next I took it to the field to test it against the elements and it came up with a very curious pachyderm wondering what he/she had stumbled across.

A curious hippo examining the camera.

Next the resilient camera captured a large male leopard, but it will be difficult to identify as the image is kind of blurry.

Author: Nakedi

Nakedi W. Maputla has just finished a Master’s Degree on the systematics of pouched mice, Saccostomus campestris from southern Africa with the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the University of Pretoria. From February 2005 to September 2007 he worked at TuksSport Combined School in Pretoria where he was a Life Sciences, Natural Sciences, Technology and Physiology educator. He joined African Wildlife Foundation as a leopard researcher at the beginning of October 2007.