A Leopard Diary: My Journey into the Hidden World of a Mother and Her Cubs

A Leopard Diary: My Journey into the Hidden World of a Mother and Her Cubs — page 1
Hi My name is Suzi Eszterhas and I am a wildlife photographer I think it’s the best job in the world My specialty is taking pictures of baby animals in the wild I’ve traveled to some of the most remote places on Earth to photograph many different species including lions polar bears gorillas pangolins penguins and more I often spend weeks or even months following the same animal family That way I can photograph the babies as they grow up Leopards have always been one of my favorite animals But they are very shy and skilled at hiding from humans so this has made it hard to find a mother with young cubs to photograph That’s why I felt so lucky when I found out about the Camp Female a very relaxed leopard that lives in the Jao Reserve in Botswana’s Okavango Delta The animals in this protected area are safe from hunters and have grown used to seeing people and safari vehicles The Camp Female sounded like the perfect subject for my leopard photos The only problem She was not pregnant Not yet anyway So I waited patiently for many months When I finally received a message that she was noticeably pregnant I was beyond excited And I was even more excited weeks later when I was told the Camp Female had given birth I quickly packed my bags and boarded a plane to Botswana My dream was coming true and I wanted to remember this adventure forever So I decided to keep this diary of my experiences 44