Winter Campfire and a Mystery Leopard

Wildlife travel is one of the best ways to bring back nostalgia – the rustic lodges, encompassing forests and hot drinks bring back scenes many of us have only read in books. One such memorable story happened in the forests of Bandipur.

In 2021, a group of us had a dry safari – a safari without sighting our target species – and were relaxing by a bonfire setup in our lodge, exchanging stories of wild sightings. After a while most of us got up and left for our rooms, in order to prepare for dinner. Suddenly there was a knock on my door, and my friend called out – “Come quickly, a leopard is visible near the neighboring resort”!!

Needless to say, we hopped onto our car and rushed to the neighboring resort, where a small group had already huddled near the boundary fence. The forests of Bandipur extend beyond the reserve a bit, and envelope the resorts. It is not uncommon for the fauna from the reserve to wander a bit outside, as was the case with this particular leopard. Using a torch when we scanned the horizon, in the distance we saw the outline of a leopard.

I should mention a word about seeing big cats in the dark – they are fundamentally nocturnal, and their camouflage works best at night. Seeing a tiger or a leopard during the day and during the night are two entirely different experiences! Fortunately for us, this particular leopard was quite a bit far off, sitting on the compound of a deserted building.

As we watched in silent fascination, slowly the dark of the night engulfed both the mysterious big cat. The cool winter night air, the dark forest, and the mysterious big cat had combined together to lend a mystique to the evening which a simple man-made bonfire could never hope to match.