The leopard along with the rhino are the toughest of the big 5 to see. We got lucky to see two separate leopard mothers with cubs. Here we see a mother with tiny cubs which was an amazing sight. The mother is growling probably because a vehicle got too close. TJ kept us far away but we still got great looks.
It was wonderful to see the cubs climbing all over their mother and how comfortable they all are climbing around trees!
We got an even better look at leopard on our next encounter! Here 8 year old Aditya took an amazing shot of the mother leopard, adult cub and the baby wildebeest kill!
Having all three of us with cameras was great since we were able to get multiple shots of leopards which is no easy feat!
Aditya got some of the best shots like the mother leopard effortlessly balancing on a snag.
He also captured mother leopard defying gravity as she climbed down. You can even see one of the paws still has some blood on it from feeding on the kill!
We got amazing looks at leopards with great lighting. Usually these shots are backlit but thin cloud cover and a short tree made for great photos.
The quintessential pose of a leopard in the Masai Mara.
Here is a closeup of the kill and how leopards carefully wrap them around the tree to prevent lions and hyenas from stealing the kill on the ground. Only the leopard can climb.
