A stunning leopard up close. Botswana: IF YOU?VE heard of the Kipling fable How the Leopard Got His Spots then now you can meet the muddy leopard who
A stunning leopard up close. Botswana: IF YOU?VE heard of the Kipling fable How the Leopard Got His Spots then now you can meet the muddy leopard who lost her spots. One hilarious image shows a confused-looking leopard emerging from the muddle puddle with a catfish swinging in its mouth, drenched in mud. Leopards can grow to be six feet long, with the addition of a three-inch tail, and can weigh up to 198 pounds. Fishing is very rare for leopards, an activity not often captured. These images were taken by wildlife technician, paleozoologist and photographer Marco Anson Ramos (35) in Savuti, Botswana using a Canon EOS550D camera. ?We were in Savuti in order to take pictures and videos of the big cats of Northern Botswana. We knew about Savuti fishing leopards thanks to a BBC documentary, and we were warned by the local people about an area where leopards go to drink and capture fish,? said Marco. ?That year the Savuti channel was reduced to a series of small pools that concentrated numbers of trapped fishes. ?So, we went to the pool and one morning we found a female leopard. We knew leopards catch fish there, but when we saw the leopard move to the edge of the initially thought she was just going to have a drink however, the leopard surprised us by very slowly entering the pool of water. ?She took a long time to make her way into the shallows. In one second, the leopard leapt into the dark muddy water and caught a catfish. ?She left the water covered in mud and she came close to us. After that, she rested in the shadows of the trees and ate the catfish. ?I love the rarity of this sighting. They are uncommonly seen so I feel really lucky to watch this behaviour. ?It is always a great hype to see a leopard. They are that kind of elegant elusive animals. But to be so close to that sighting was one of the best moments in my mediadrumimagges/MarcoAnsonRamos
Size: 3625px × 2417px
Photo credit: © Media Drum World / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: africa, fishing, leopard, mud, muddy
