There's A Leopard In The Lounge

THERE’S A LEOPARD IN

THE Lounge...

Nestled under a stand of riverine trees, overlooking an immense dambo (shallow wetland) on the eastern banks of the Kafue River in Zambia’s Kafue National Park, is Musekese Camp.

Sittingbytheopenfireonenight,predinner chatter was interrupted by a gruff cough, like one might expect from a butler announcing dinner was served. This was no butler however—this was a leopard making her presence known as she passed by in the shadows.

The next night, heading back to camp after a game drive, we were stopped in our tracks by a leopard who was using the road as a convenient walkway and pausing occasionally to sniff the air. Not wanting to disturb him, we sat in the vehicle. Shortly he set off again, sauntering down the road looking for another, more auspicious, place to lie in wait. Switching off the engine again we sat in the dark. Puku nearby got wind of the leopard’s presence and started making tentative alarm calls. Suddenly another, much larger male leopard come trotting down the track towards us. Leopard number one, being both younger and smaller, looked nervous and turning tail he headed towards us. Pausing as he passed our vehicle, he was close enough to touch. The new male also continued towards us. Stopping as he reached the vehicle, he gave us a good look over before continuing into the dark.

Shortly after we left Musekese, another leopard started making his presence known in camp; a young male, born close to camp. The youngster was still fairly dependant on his mother, who seemed comfortable leaving him in camp while out hunting most nights. This was clearly a case of ‘while the cat’s away…’ as the youngster started making nightly visits to camp. Camp staff saw footprints, heard alarm calls and the occasional growl. Mother and son then killed and ate a puku in the lodge car park. Soon there were reports of the young leopard walking by staff tents after dark, in front of camp during lunch, and even one morning, climbing a tree where he lay watching guests breakfasting. And, becoming even more adventurous, he had a ‘midnight

Writer: Sarah Kingdom Photography: Jeffery and McKeith Safaris munch’ on shoes left outside the lodge manager’s tent!

But his playfulness reached new heights when, left to his own devices after dark, he turned the lodge lounge area into his personal playroom. Richard, the camp waiter, found the cub in the lounge one evening, after guests had gone to bed. A camera trap was installed to see what he was getting up to. The following morning the area was a shambles and after investigating the camera footage, all was revealed. The night-time partier had left alineoffootprintsalongthebar,rifled through reading material and redistributed ornaments,beforefinallytryingthesofas for comfort, rearranging blankets, chewing on cushions and taking a ‘cat nap’. Winter nights grew chilly and the leopard was ‘spotted’closertothefireatnight,then taking his mischief to new ‘heights’ when he dragged a blanket from the lounge up into a tree for a snuggle!

For Phil Jeffery and Tyrone McKeith, who built Musekese, their ethos is, ‘it must not only feel wild, but be wild’...well, I don’t think it gets much wilder than this.

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