The misty highland wilderness of Horton Plains National Park has been part of my life from way back when I was an infant when my parents took me as at 3 months old to this amazing cloud forest haven.
Since then I have made this my second home and have travelled there extensively throughout my life. From catching a train to Ohiya and then hiking all the way up to the plains or on many birding tours to the park to catch the amazing highland endemic birds as well as rare migrants.
Throughout this time, one animal, in particular, fascinated me and kept me wondering when I would ever see one. This is none other than the apex predator of these misty plains, the Sri Lankan Leopard.
Even though Sri Lanka has national parks such as Yala and Wilpattu which are famed for their leopard sightings, the thought of seeing a leopard in the misty highlands of Sri Lanka has always fascinated me.
I always imagined that the leopards of the hills would be much larger and to see one in an environment visited by so many people every year and yet such as a handful of sightings truly excited me.
As the years went by, I obtained many reports of encounters in the park, even during the daytime by park officers as well as regular transport suppliers who bring tourists to the park from Nuwara Eliya.
This made me decide to try my hand at photographing one.
My quest to find leopards began in 2015 when I set off to the park with high hopes of finding one. I learnt that time that this is not going to be easy.
Over the years, I kept trying continuously and in 2017 I had my first sighting, though fleeting a worthy encounter. Thus began my long odyssey in trying to obtain a captivating photograph of this mysterious big cat of the hills.
Through the next few years, I had many times where we went back home empty-handed, and sometimes with narrow misses and fleeting glances.
Through all these failures, I gradually learned the leopard's movements, behaviors, how to spot them, what tell tale signs to look for and so much more. This was an expensive investment that I hoped one day would pay off with a great close-up encounter.
As time passed, I was developing the knack to find these predators, and even then I would say the hit rate is very low compared to other national parks.
This year, making full use of my annual leave, I took a week of leave and set off on my own account renting a car along with my trusty friend, colleague, and seasoned wildlife guide Hetti (Supurna Hettiarachchi), with whom I traveled a month before as well to Horton Plains and has some fairly decent sightings of leopards.
This time, I planned to spend 5 nights exploring Horton Plains. The first day itself I encountered the famous family of the female leopard code-named HPF 04 (Horton Plains Female 04) and her 3 cubs, who were out far away on a hill. It was interesting to observe them, but the distance away from me hindered any good photography.
The next two days were terrible with heavy rains and mist which hindered our attempt in finding any leopards.
On the fourth day, we were joined by some friends who were very keen to travel with me to try and see the leopards as well as the amazing birdlife of the park.
That evening we were blessed with a fantastic encounter with the young male HPM 08 the cub of HPF 04. Initially, he was spotted hiding behind some grass tussocks and peeping out once in a while to check his surroundings. As time went he slunk back into the forest cover.
With knowledge of his movements, I went to the other side of the forest in anticipation of him appearing from this side. There was a large Sambhur stag who was displaying the typical alarm behavior from calling out loudly and stoping his front legs.
After waiting around 10 minutes, I once again thought of driving towards the location he was originally seen in just to check if he has appeared on that side once again. As he was not there, we drove back to the other side. As soon as we arrived there we found the leopard stalking the sambhur and trying to chase him. Given the apparent massive size difference it is highly unlikely he can take down such large prey, but yet given his age, he is practicing stalking and hunting with anything he sees.
After the sambhur decided hell have none of this and ran away, the leopard simply sat down and settled in. As the light was fading, we had to exit the park at 6.00 PM.
The next day morning we drove in with excitement and were rewarded with a glimpse of the two female cubs of HPF 04 walking along the main road towards us. Halting immediately we observed the cats slinking into the deep forest. Despite waiting hours hoping they would come back to the road, they never did. We continued exploring the park and birding throughout the rest of the day.
The following day, we went in as always at 6 am and explored the entire track from Pattipola to Ohiya entrances.
As we were driving back towards the Pattipola side, I noticed the Sambhur behaving strangely. As one female gave out a single alarm call. Initially, I thought it might have been a false alarm given it was a single call, but she was staring intently in our direction. We looked to the right side of our car, and I suddenly noticed a leoapard like a shape in the grass. I look out my telephoto lens and fired a shot to verify, but the shot was just of some dried-up grass. I thought it was a false alarm at first, but when I looked again from my naked eye again I saw a shape like a leopard's head through the grass. Once again I looked through my lens and this time it truly was a leopard. I knew at that moment, that initially what occurred was that the cat had hidden for a few seconds when I checked.
Noticing the spot pattern I once again knew this was HPM 08 as he observed his surroundings through the long grass. After a few seconds, he slunk back into the forest.
Hetti suggested he might cross the road and go into the forest to our left. But I thought he might come out from the other side, and drove ahead to check.
I was wrong in this case as after waiting for over 2 hours in anticipation, Hetti's prediction came true.
While waiting patiently, we suddenly noticed a sambhur doe keenly observing a section of the forest to our left. Then she started stomping which is a tell-tale sign that she's noticed a leopard. Suddenly a large stag came up to the bushes at the edge of the forest and began belting a loud alarm call while stomping profusely.
We also got the smell of rotten meat from the forests which means there is a kill inside and the leopard was feeding on it, giving out the pungent smell.
We waited in excitement for the cat to appear as the sambhur kept calling nonstop.
While we were waiting, many visitors passed us by who had come to do the World End walk which is very popular with locals and foreigners alike. Unaware of sambhur behavior many cars stopped right next to the bush where the leopard is and was photographing the alarmed sambhur with their mobile phones.
We called them ahead and informed whats going on and asked them to park their cars properly at a distance so as not to disturb this natural sequence and watch. Almost all the cars got petrified when I told them there is a leopard in the bush, and one even put their shutters up in fright and drove away towards the park office.
While we waited a few minutes, suddenly the leopard jumped onto the road and walked away from us. We followed him a short distance away. All of a sudden the young male cat got on a small tree by the roadside and looked at us. Given I was in a car, it was very difficult to photograph something right in front of us without twisting myself profusely to get that shot which was for a few seconds, before the cat got back on the road and went into the forest to our right.
Driving up ahead we waited in the open, knowing from experience that he's going to come out at some time or the other. Our anticipation was right as the leopard came out to the edge of the opening on the other side, looked at us for a few seconds, and proceeded to walk along the edge to the far corner of the opening where he sat down and watched us and the vehicles passing by (all of whom didn't notice the leopard watching them). After around 10-15 minutes he retired to the back of a bush and laid down to sleep after feasting on the kill.
Elated we waited. Cars came and went, passing us by, oblivious to the predator sleeping peacefully. Many vehicles blaring loud music and loud people shouting and screaming, with no regard for the park rules and tranquility of this environment. Some even let out lewd gestures and crude remarks at us. The typical drunkard local crowd who come with drums and guitars, drunk out of mind to have some crude fun at the expense of the calm and peacefulness of nature. We spoke out and asked them to kindly leave that area without creating a scene, for which all did give the irritation in our tones.
Most visitors are unaware that there are leopards in this park and drive away in fear and alarm. Some try and get down from the car and try and walk around looking for it. We had several of these kinds of people as we waited patiently.
It was almost 4 hours of waiting for us. The weather kept changing from bright and sunny to cold and gloomy. Despite this, we waited, in patience and anticipation. We had no food as we planned on going down to our bungalow for lunch, but we canceled our plans for food with this sighting. We had run out of water as well but decided not to move from this spot in case we miss something amazing.
In hunger and thirst, we waited hours and hours, patiently in hope of a glimpse of this amazing cat once again.
As the hours passed we kept checking behind the bush to see if the cat was still there. We used to get a slight view of a few spots which confirmed he was still there.
Then, out of nowhere a massive sambhur stag appeared and came stomping towards the area where the leopard was in deep slumber. This was the largest stag we had seen in a while, and he was clearly trying to showcase his dominance by raising his head high and walking with loud stomps.
This alarmed the sleeping leopard who woke up in a daze and dashed into the bushes nearby. Then the sambhur to further intimidate got on his hind legs and began licking and rubbing his antlers on the topmost branches of a tree.
All of a sudden the leopard jumped out and ran towards the sambhur, and jumped onto the tree. The same tree the sambhur was rubbing his antlers on a second ago. The sambhur was unphased as he looked with an alarming gesture, head raised high and tail raised up in the air at this young leopard.
The leopard initially tried to claw the tree to possibly sharpen its claws or maybe in sheer nervousness from what happened.
Then the sambhur slowly walked past the leopard who was still perched on the trunk of the tree, as he watched the massive deer intently.
After the deer walked away, the leopard remained on the tree for a few minutes, after which it descended to the ground and began walking towards the deer.
Sitting down thereafter he observed his surroundings for several minutes, before walking back towards the edge and slinking back into the bush.
We were overjoyed. We never expected such action and such amazing sequences in our wildest dreams. This was truly the most unforgettable leopard experience of my life.
We waited patiently for several more hours, and during this time the leopard crossed the road and moved to the other side. Here he attempted to stalk a sambhur once again, after which he simply sat down and enjoyed the afternoon sun.
We continued to observe him appear from time and time again that day until we left him to his own as the sunset.
All the while many random visitors drove by oblivious to this magical wildlife encounter we just witnessed.
Many like to say this is thanks to luck. But I would beg to differ.
Sightings like this come due to many factors.
Number 1- Hard Work, tons of it. People don't realize the amount of effort, time, and resources put to get such a sighting. It accounts for many days of tirelessly traveling to this area on a continuous basis, braving the constant rain, wind, and cold, and working tirelessly from 6 am to 6 pm on all these days scanning every blade of grass, leaf, tree, and bush for any signs.
Number 2 Knowledge on Horton Plains leopard behavior and overall fieldcraft and knowledge. Years of study and observation give you insight into the secretive lives of these amazing big cats. It takes a lot of anticipation and quick decision-making based on evidence to get such a sighting. Every single leopard sighting here we have to work tirelessly to obtain. Nothing is merely lucky. Anticipating where the leopard will show up from, listening to the telltale signs such as droppings the body language, and alarms of prey animals such as Sambur, Barking Deer, Purple Faced Leaf Monkey, Jungle Fowl, and many others.
Number 3 Teamwork. Sightings or chances of sightings are increased if we work together hence having like-minded friends with you to spread out and keep an eye out help
So no, this is not a lucky shot, this took years of hard work, returning back home many times empty-handed, spending alot of money on travel expenses, and countless days of waking up at 4 am and scanning and driving around from sunrise to sunset.
This was the culmination of 6 years of dedication and hard work.
