Little Bush female’s new cub at Sabi Sabi

A sighting we have all been waiting for - the day the Little Bush female reveals her newest offspring out in the open.

One overcast morning my guests and I set out in search of giraffe as that was one of our main target species as we still needed to view them before our guests departed. First, we set out and decided to make our way starting in the East of our property. After passing a few active termite mounds and a few Weaver’s nests, we arrived at a wide-open area and discovered the Little Bush female standing along the tree line. While making an approach towards her, we noticed a different type of call that we haven’t heard recently from her. At that moment I turned off the vehicle so we could hear the call without the sound of the engine. Suddenly we noticed one, and only one, tiny leopard cub starting to slowly emerge from the tree line towards its mother, this being the first visual of her newest offspring.

This was the first time we had seen her cub and likely the first time the cub had seen a vehicle. The tiny leopard cub was roughly 8 – 9 weeks old, very skittish and approached its mother slowly until about 5 meters away when it would sprint over to the Little Bush female with excitement. The two moved past our vehicle and back down into a drainage line that was relatively thick with multiple crevasses, most likely the new chosen den site. Leopards usually have on average 2 – 3 cubs in a litter, however with a high mortality rate, only one within this latest litter has survived. This however means, that the Little Bush female will give full attention and protection to her last surviving cub and try and secure a future that it may reach independence like her last two cubs from her last two litters.

Equipment Used

• Camera – Canon 7D mk ii
• Lens and Focal length – Canon-EF100-400mm f-4.5-5.6 L IS USM at 320mm

Settings used to capture this image

• ISO – 2000
• Aperture – f 5,6
• Shutter – 1/640

Editing used on this image

Not much editing was put into the reconstruction of this image as the setting used were able to capture the image to the best of my ability as I saw it in my head. A small bit of contrast and exposure was added in order to create a little bit more vibrancy and light in areas that were more dense and slightly darker than the open areas.