Leopards of Wilpattu

2nd October 2022 at 6.50am an adult female leopard at Thammanna Wala. N 08.35115, E 080.11720

I saw the leopard on the left edge of the road from a distance just before reaching Thammanna Wala and brought the vehicle to a halt at an angle. As I started to take photographs she walked on to the road and moved into the forest. I waited for a bout 15 minutes but an alarm call from a Giant Squirrel indicated that she had moved some distance in to the forest. Upon checking the spot pattern on her forehead, I was thrilled to note that this is one of the leopards that had eluded me for almost two years despite receiving many images of her taken by other on the main road from Maradanmaduwa to Thammanna Wala. The first record of her was from Maradanmaduwa Maha Wewa road in July 2017. I estimated her age to be around 7 and a half years. She is the mother of Galwanguwa Male 1 (GWMC 1), that I had photographed. In January 2021 she was seen with two cubs at Palukola Wala. I had included this female in the Leopards of Wilpattu – Guest section as Maradanmaduwa Leopard 2 as she was initially seen around Maradanmaduwa and Galwanguwa. As she is usually seen around Palukola Wala I named her Palukola Wala Female 1 with the code (PKWF 1) for the purpose of my study.