A short while ago we came across the Nkoveni Female by chance on our way back to camp in the early evening. We had just turned a corner, and there she was, crossing the road ahead of us. We were eager to follow her for a short while and see what she would get up to. It’s always fascinating to see how fluid and stealthy leopards are when they navigate through dense vegetation or tall grass. Especially so in the stillness of the twilight hours.
The Nkoveni Female fixes her gaze on something in the distance.
A gorgeous female who is found to the east of camp. Easily recognised by her 2:2 spot pattern she is often to be found in Marula trees.
Suddenly she noticed something in the distance, and her body dropped low to the ground. She advanced slowly, with deadly precision in the placement of each paw. The level of focus in her eyes made me think of how one uses a magnifying glass to start a fire. Channelling all of her energy and sensory ability onto one single point. At this stage, we were viewing in anticipation from a distance so that we wouldn’t interfere. When looking through binoculars I couldn’t help but notice how proud and flared her whiskers were.
Leopards, like many other animals, have whiskers on their face as a form of sensory input. The whiskers are highly sensitive and can detect subtle vibrations, changes in airflow, and even the size and shape of objects surrounding them.
A single cub of the Ximungwe Female's second litter. Initially rather skittish but is very relaxed now. Birth mark in his left eye.
It’s easy for us as humans to focus on the physical senses that might be more relevant to us when observing animals. This sighting reminded me of just how important the sensory ability of whiskers are. As well as simply completing the look of any cat, whiskers serve many essential functions:
Balance
Whiskers play a crucial role in determining the body’s position. Cats have special sensory receptor cells at the base of their whiskers. These relay messages about their surroundings to the brain, which is the main reason why cats can almost always land on their feet. And in the case of leopards, also why they are equally as agile as monkeys and baboons in the treetops.
Having been viewed by vehicles from an early age, this leopard is supremely relaxed around Land Rovers.
Spatial Awareness
While hunting, whiskers are feeding constant information about what it is the cat is stalking through. Whether the gap between two branches is big enough to squeeze through without making a noise, or whether the type of grass will rustle and blow their cover.
The Ntomi Male has particularly beautiful whiskers. You can see where they attach to the highly sensitive grid of receptors on his face.
Detect Vibrations
The whiskers are so sensitive that they can detect inaudible vibrations in the air surrounding them, almost serving as a radar system. Think of the pounding heartbeat of a terrified scrub-hare hiding from a leopard in a clump of grass during the dead stillness of a dark night. This proves to be extremely helpful when needing to detect not only prey but imminent dangers too.
Navigating the Night
Although visibility at night is only slightly reduced for cats than during the day; the whiskers come into their own during the dead of the night. Serving as a continuous feedback loop that keeps the cat completely in tune with what it is moving through. When we see cats pause for a brief moment whilst on the move during a still night, they are using their hearing and whiskers to paint an incredibly highly detailed picture of what’s ahead of them. Although they are ‘looking’, it is not primarily with their eyes.
Facial Protection
Whiskers are highly sensitive to even the lightest touch with the finest piece of debris. Cats have lightning-fast reflexes which are paired with an unrivalled reaction time. They can quickly detect anything hazardous around their face and eyes. This is helpful whilst grappling large prey on the ground, but even more so during fights with each other, where lethal claws and teeth will mostly be targeting sensitive areas across their head.
Whiskers will naturally shed and new ones will replace the old ones. Here you can see some of the Mawelawela Male’s whiskers have been broken.
Began as a fairly unrelaxed leopard in the southwestern parts of the reserve. Now providing great viewing in the open grasslands
We continued to watch the Nkoveni Female for a few more minutes. Then, in an incredibly fast and calculated leap, followed by an explosive 90° manoeuvre upon contact with the ground. She emerged from a small cloud of dust. It was needless to say, dangling from her jaws was the unlucky victim, a scrub-hare.
We are incredibly fortunate to be able to witness such amazing feats of the natural world play out right in front of our eyes. However, it is only by acquiring an understanding of the smaller details of the magical world of animal anatomy that we can fully appreciate it.
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First of all Matt, thanks for including such fantastic images of these well known leopards. As much as I love including the entire leopard in my photos, I actually prefer shooting a close-up of the leopard’s head in order to highlight the eyes and whiskers. Some of my favorite images taken during my stays there have included close-ups of Ingrid Dam, Piccadilly, Ximungwe, Xinzele females as well as the Tortoise Pan and Flat Rock males….. looking forward to my next visit to add to my collection, and perhaps be rewarded with seeing cubs for the first time!!
PS. Thank you for all the information you gathered on the functions that whiskers provide. I learned a few new reasons why whiskers are important to the daily lives of leopards.
Any other species rely on whiskers?
I often find myself playing the game of, if I had a tail, what kind of tail would I most like to have? Now if I had whiskers, I would certainly opt for those of a leopard. I also have a habit of collecting the whiskers shed by my cat. I keep them in a small round tin, and since she is 12 ½ years old, there are so many now they resemble a small white bird nest. I think I started doing it under the superstition that they were somehow lucky. A house cat’s, whiskers? Probably not. But finding the whisker of a wild leopard – now that would be magical.
The spatial awareness of cats is amazing. Thanks Matt for reacquainting me with their whiskers.
I put that vibrational part to the test with my own cat. Interesting even from behind she anticipated I was going to touch her side as she flinched. Very cool
Hi Robyn, this “special edition ” about leopards is fantastic. To look at all those pictures of different leopards with unique personality, each of them has a different story. The Mawelawela male looks a bit haunted, the Ntomi very self-assured. They are both handsome each in his own way, exactly like the others. Yesterday’s blog on leopard vision together with yours made me think of a wonderful documentary, Eye of the Leopard by Derek and Beverly Joubert
Thanks, Matt, for this very interesting article about how leopards use their whiskers, how they feel their way through the bush and how they can catch their prey more easily because of these spectacular “instruments”.
Interesting blog, Matt, highlighted with some wonderful leopard photos. Thank you!
Matt your story on the whiskers is incredibly interesting. It is their radar system and giving them direction and know how of what is ahead of them. These stunning leopards are so close to a person’s heart, it feels as if you know each one of them. They are so special especially the Nkoveni female and the Ntomi male with his spek in his eye.
Thanks for this pithy but super informative post about the multi-functionality of leopards’ whiskers Matt. And really great images as well!!
Thank you Matt, this is a most interesting blog and there are a couple of superb photos of these beautiful agile creatures in action which completely capture the moment. Especially liked the photo demonstrating balance control on branch whilst spotting something!
Besides the fact that a cat’s whiskers are incredibly beautiful and charismatic!
Very true Matt.. If people can learn other people by learning the finer details about behaviour etc one will enjoy the surroundings better. In more that one way of course.
Will the Leopards tail not also assist in a big way to have the balance alongside the whiskers?