A young male leopard, born to a resident female close to Musekese Camp on the eastern banks of the Kafue River in Kafue National Park, Zambia, has been up to mischief. His antics have been caught on camera using a camera trap.
The youngster, approximately 8-10 months old, was initially part of a litter of two, but his sibling has not been seen for some time. He is still fairly dependent on his mother, although she seems pretty comfortable leaving him in the camp while she’s out hunting most nights. It seems like this is clearly a case of ‘while the cat’s away…’ as there have been nightly visits to camp in the shape of a young feline intruder.
Becoming more adventurous and playful one night the young leopard had a ‘midnight munch’ on shoes left inadvertently outside the lodge managers’ tent. Image credit: Musekese Camp
Initially, camp staff just saw footprints, heard alarm calls and the occasional growl. Mother and son then killed and ate a puku in the lodge parking area.
Then there were reports of the youngster walking in front of staff tents after dark, through the dambo in front of camp during lunch hour, and even climbing a tree one morning and lying down to watch the guests over breakfast. Becoming more adventurous and playful one night the young leopard had a ‘midnight munch’ on shoes left inadvertently outside the lodge managers’ tent.
This playfulness reached new heights when, left to his own devices at night, he decided to turn the lodge lounge area into his personal playroom.
Left to his own devices at night, he decided to turn the lodge lounge area into his personal playroom. Image credit: Musekese Camp
Mother and son make regular nighttime forays through the camp, but when Richard, the waiter, found the cub on the couch alone one evening, after the guests had gone to bed, it was decided that a camera trap would be put up to see what he was getting up to.
The next morning the bar and lounge were a bit of a shambles and after investigating the camera footage, it was soon revealed why.
Image credit: Musekese Camp
Giving a whole new meaning to ‘prowler’, the night time party animal had not quite danced on the bar, but had certainly left his footprints along its wooden countertop.
Image credit: Musekese Camp
He’d rifled through reading material and redistributed ornaments, before finally testing each of the sofas for comfort, rearranging the blankets, chewing on the cushions and generally making himself quite at home. For Phil Jeffery and Tyrone McKeith, who built Musekese, their ethos is ‘it must not only feel wild, but be wild’… it doesn’t get much wilder than this!
Image credit: Musekese Camp
Phil Jeffery says they will ‘maintain our vigilance and not become complacent, it is a completely wild animal after all… the novelty will soon wear off for the leopard and indeed he will move on to find his own territory or follow his mother into other parts of their territory.’ But for now, the Musekese ‘midnight meddler’ is certainly enjoying making himself at home.
Text: Sarah Kingdom
Image: Supplied/Musekese Camp
