Leopards of Wilpattu

16th October 2016 at 1.55pm 3 leopards at Boralu Wala. N 08.40837, E 080.04171

I drove from Borupan junction towards Ibba Wala. Just before reaching Boralu Wala we spotted one leopard to our right as the animal moved quickly in to the forest. I reversed the vehicle and parked keeping about 40 meters of distance from where the leopard was seen expecting it to move on to the road. After about 10 minutes our patience paid off when a leopard of about one year moved on to the edge of the road. While I was photographing the leopard Dinesh, who was observing the forest with a pair of binoculars, said “sir another Leopard”. The second leopard, an adult female ran across the road very quickly. As the first leopard moved across the road I heard Dinesh saying “Sir yet another leopard”. The third Leopard, also a cub of about one year, also walked hurriedly across the road. I was thrilled with this sighting. Later upon examining the photos I realized that these are the two cubs photographed by Indika Nettigama and Manju Sirimalwatta that I have named on my site under the Leopards of Wilpattu – Guest section as the Lunu Wewa road Leopard 1 and Boralu Wala Leopard 1. They were two female cubs and their mother. The tail of one of the cubs is bent at the end. Considering that they appear to be frequenting the Boralu Wala area I decided to name the two cubs as Boralu Wala Female 1 and Boralu Wala Female 2. Unfortunately my images of the adult female were not up to standard enabling me to use for identification. (with guide Dinesh Kumara)