Habituation

For many decades Leopards in KwaZulu Natal have been hunted and killed by humans. When Thanda Safari – Private Game Reserve was established – 11 years ago – a safe haven for these magnificent cats was created. But it takes a lot of patience and time to ‘teach’ these beautiful animals that they can relax around safari vehicles.

It is very important to treat the Leopards with respects and not to push and pursue them, when they decide to leave a sighting. And once they learn that the presence of our vehicles does not mean any threat, more prolonged sightings will become the norm.

This young female lay in the bushes approximately 30 meters from the road. We viewed her from the distance with binoculars and took some pictures until she decided to leave us and move up a hill. We did not follow her off-road and we did not push her. We let her go. One more step in getting her habituated to our vehicles.

What a sighting!

Picture by Christian Sperka – Resident Wildlife Photographer – Thanda Safari

Never miss a message from Thanda! Sign up to the Thanda Blog and receive an email with every new post – https://thandablog.com/follow-the-blog/ and/or sign up to our Newsletter – http://www.thanda.com/contact/newsletter-sign-up.htm

Thanda Safari is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World