My Londolozi colleagues will laugh at me for this one, as I don’t usually like admitting that I’m wrong, but in this case I am more than happy to, as it has now become clear that one of the reserve’s most impressive leopards still has his eye!
I am of course talking about the Anderson male, who we (I, cringe) reported as having lost his left eye in an unknown incident.
Unofficially the biggest leopard in the Sabi Sands, the Anderson male is an absolutely enormous individual in north western Londolozi.
Take a look at the picture below, which was taken on the morning of when he was first discovered with the injury:
As you can see, things in that left eye socket don’t look too good… Swelling and lacerations, as well as what appeared to simply be an empty hole where his eye should have been, led us to jump to the conclusion that his eye was gone, which I duly – and mistakenly as it now turns out – announced.
Now take a look at Don Heyneke’s photo from a day or two later:
Again, the prognosis was not so good. We certainly don’t profess to be wildlife veterinarians, but one can still see how whatever happened to the leopard has caused some serious swelling around the socket, and of a viable eye there doesn’t appear to be any sign in the photo.
This kind of drama defines life for a wild animal out in the bush, and although whatever actually took place (unconfirmed reports of him being hit by a rhino were received, and there were also compelling arguments that he received the injury in an altercation with the Flat Rock male) seemed to have resulted in a major setback for this enormous leopard, we didn’t believe it to be life-threatening, as leopards are remarkably efficient at adapting.
Then in a different sighting of him a few days after the above picture was taken, ranger Guy Brunskill was viewing the Anderson male after dark up in a tree, and the spotlight playing on the leopard’s face certainly seemed to have two eye-shines reflecting back. The eyes of nocturnal predators – among other mammals – reflect light back from the torch beam due to a reflective layer called the tapetum lucidum, and from the double eye-shine, Guy was convinced that the leopard still had an eyeball, concealed somewhere back in the recesses of the injured socket.
I’ll be the first to admit that I was skeptical about Guy’s claim, having seen the injury myself and presuming that the eyeball must have ripped out. I imagined that the reflection would be due to some sort of fluid seeping into the wound.
How wrong I was.
A chance meeting along Londolozi’s northern boundary with Colleen Bekker, a guest at one of the Sabi Sands’ northern lodges, soon cleared things up.
The Anderson male had crossed north out of Londolozi the day before, and Colleen had seen him and captured the following pictures, which she was kind enough to send me:
Although still clearly showing signs of damage around the socket, the intact eye of the Anderson male can just start to be made out as the area surrounding it heals… Photograph by Colleen Bekker
The leopard lies down for some rest. It’s tricky to see without zooming in fully, but this photo clearly shows an intact pupil in the injured eye. Photograph by Colleen Bekker
When we met on the boundary Colleen showed me a magnified photo on her camera in which one could see the faint hint of an eyeball, and what almost certainly looked like the leopard’s pupil. The second photo above was the one Colleen was particularly excited about, as it shows the Anderson male in the spotlight, and Colleen informed me that his pupil had constricted in the spotlight, which it wouldn’t be if the leopard had lost fully function in his eye.
Then the final irrefutable proof came when James Souchon snapped the cover photo of this post in a sighting of the Anderson male with a warthog kill, a zoomed in version of which can be seen below:
The Anderson male with a warthog firmly clamped between his jaws, his left eye there for all to see. Photograph by James Souchon
James was of course thrilled to present these photos to the rest of the Ranger and Tracker team, and we can now officially confirm that the Anderson male still has his left eye. Whether the eye is fully functional or not we can’t say for sure, but the outlook for the leopard is certainly far more favourable than it was a couple of weeks ago.
We hope this good news gets everyone’s week off to a good start!
I celebrate this good news with everyone! I was cautiously optimistic considering the horrific injury and didn’t blame you James for thinking the eye was gone. I cringed when I saw all the various images…SO painful. But what’s most important is that he is healing and successfully hunting. He will adapt, but he suffered.
This is wonderful news. It just show how resillient these animals are.
WOW, that is great news. What a magnificent animal. Sometimes there are guardian angels!!! Victoria
Sooo happy
So pleased to see he’s on the mend. I said at the time that this is one pretty tough customer. You just can’t keep a good leopard down!
Happiness for the Anderson male and this guest
So very pleased about this. It was a HORRIBLE injury. I certainly didn’t think, from pics, that the eye was whole at all! Cats of all sizes are marvellous survivors though. Delighted he is so much better and can hunt so successfully. Wendy M
@James thanks for the update really good news!
Now do you by any chance have any news on Mfumo from the Birminghams?? He has not been seen in quite a while or no update on him??
Fantastic news, James! Hopefully he hasn’t lost sight in the injured eye but he certainly looks much better now that the swelling is coming down.
Great news for a Monday morning! Life will be so much easier for him….
So glad to hear that the Anderson Male has not lost his eye, and that he is eating well.
James, thanks so much for the update. We saw this leopard the day after the injury and things did not look good. Very pleased that his recovery seems to be proceeding nicely. Keep us posted!
Wonderful news! Magnificent leopard.
Certainly made my Monday morning reading your good news about the Anderson male. Animals have a remarkable way of healing themselves and hopefully he will not have lost much sight in that eye. Time heals….
On another note, is there someone special I should contact for a stay in Varty Camp for a few days mid November this year? Really want to visit!!
Glad to hear it made your morning Denise. Animals are incredibly resilient and can teach us so much about how to adapt to the wilderness. I have sent you a mail regarding your proposed stay in Varty camp in November.
One of wildlife’s great stories, that the Anderson male still has his eye and I was thrilled at the news.
🙂 🙂 🙂
Oh thank you for the update. Wow that eye really looks bad, but glad that he’s whole & on the mend ?
YAY for Mr Anderson. I just love his ‘gothic’ eyes. I am glad he is doing well.