Communication with Leopards
Cape Town, 17 April 2009 – by Bianca Gubalke
Bianca Gubalke Images
Big cats – especially leopards – always fascinated me and we seem to have some kind of a strange attraction for one another. While it’s rather the exception to come across these beautiful and dangerous carnivors today, they were always around on the farm I grew up on in the Brandberg area of Namibia – South West Africa at the time. I remember how we had to always double-check the thick and solid wall of acacia thornbush – “hakkiedoring” – that enclosed the herd of goats at night. Leopards are elegant, noiseless hunters and smart strategists. One of them got all 5 of my little baby goats… and we never got him!
Even where I live today bordering on the unique Silvermine Nature Reserve there still seems to be one or the other big cat in the wild, steep gorge right above us in the isolated mountains. They seem to be invisible, but a neighbour heard one not too long ago and found the tracks… and after getting this weird feeling that made all my hair stand upright without any apparent reason while being up there in the complete stillness under sumptuous old Yellowwood trees… I never go up there alone again. I know he’s there. . . I love the thought as it means wholeness, connectedness and respect. Though I shouldn’t say ‘never’ perhaps . . . I might just go up again one day. . .
My most exciting encounters with lions and leopards I had many years ago in Botswana, especially in the Savuti Marsh, which is part of the Chobe National Park and was submerged under a huge inland sea in ancient times. For some mystical reason, this harsh area fills up with water becoming a lush grassland paradise for many different herds of animals and their predators – or it suddenly dries up under the scorching sun – regardless of the rains.
In the good old days we camped in the bush, carried no weapons, had a bushman tracker to guide us – and simply lived according to the simple rules of survival in the Bushveld based on constant awareness, stillness and respect. I especially loved the evenings when the sky darkened… with an incredible red of the setting sun hovering above the endless horizon… and the first star twinkling with surprising closeness…
The black silhouettes of camelthorn acacias into which swarms of birds settled noisily…
The tranquil passing of giraffes… elephants… herds of zebra, barking and stamping nervously…
And then… the distant roar of a lion echoing through the vastness like opening the hunt to the dancers of the night. Eyes soon flashed up in the flickering flames of the campfire: hyenas, jackals, lions… waiting.
The moment we disappeared in our tents the terrain was theirs!
Dereck and Beverly Joubert
During those precious times we always came across “the Jouberts”… sitting quietly in their specially equipped vehicle, observing, filming, taking pictures, writing, recording sound… and being just totally one with Nature: for over 25 years.
Dereck and Beverly Joubert dedicated their lives to studying and understanding the social structures and predator/prey relationships among Africa’s wild animals, recording and publishing it through various media channels with the objective to inform, stun and ultimately protect Africa’s majestic wildlife through wise conservation.
Their tremendous work – including 20 films, six books, and many articles for National Geographic magazine – has been honored with five Emmy awards, The Foster Peabody award, the Jules Verne award and, in 2008, the World Ecology Award, previously given to HRH The Prince of Wales, Jane Goodall, and Jacques Cousteau… among others.
Then and still today… they represented for me a form of perfect life: in harmony with Nature, doing what they love together as a bonded couple… and really creating something of Value – something that causes positive change.
If I’m on this kind or track in my online research, I easily get carried away…
So let me invite you to enjoy the following discovery: the Jouberts’ latest award-winning film “Eye of the Leopard”, which “… documents a young leopard’s survival in wild Africa over a period of three years and demonstrates the leopard species compassionate nature and advanced intelligence as well as its hunting prowess.”
As I mentioned before: it’s not easy to come across this species in wild Nature… watching these 4 short movies is incredibly enriching for anyone loving African Wildlife and… big cats.
Leopards.
"Eye of the Leopard" by Dereck and Beverly Joubert
Thank you Dereck and Bev!
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Dear Beverly and Dereck Joubert. Marlene and I enjoyed your book on THE LAST LIONS.We will be buying the DVD. Marlene flim and video tape wildlife. I photograph insects in Macro.WWW.VJTRAPP.COM Your Truly Victor and Marlene Trapp
Thank you, dear Victor and Marlene – that’s awesome! Nature is just devine… so keep enjoying your work close to it. Great pictures at Horicon marsh! All the best to you!