During my travels to Botswana in Africa I encountered this beautiful spectical during a safari on Chief Island in the Okavanga Dekta. I very much enjoyed capturing this moment and made sure to put my camera away now and then just to observe the leopard female and her 2 week old cub. The leopard female had chosen to hide her young in a hollow appel leaf tree. Female leopards will often choose these kind of hiding places as well as rock formations so they can hide their cubs since they are still quite fragile. Many predators will choose to kill the young of other predators if they get the opportunity. This is because they know the young will eventually grow up to become competitors for territory, food supplies and mating opportunities. I acquired this information while studying and working as a field guide in South-Africa.
While the mother goes out to hunt the young stay hidden and often know not to come out until late the mother returns. Sometimes female leopards will choose to move their young to new hiding spots to make it more difficult for predators to find their young. Until late the cubs are big enough to learn to hunt they stay fragile and their chances of survival are very slim. So it was an amazing experience photographing and observing this 2 week old cub and his mom knowing the dangers it still faces while he/she learns to be a leopard.
Beste mensen,
Bij deze wil ik jullie graag meer vertellen over mijzelf en mijn werk. Ik ben een fotograaf gevestigd in Nederland en fotografie speelt al heel lang een belangrijke rol in mijn leven. Over de jaren heen heb ik diverse onderwerpen voor de camera gehad; dieren, mensen,..
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