This stunning female leopard was referred to as ‘Strangler’ - presumably named after the Strangler Fig Trees which are loosely dotted throughout her territory in the Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa.
She was one of the most talked about leopards in the area when I began working there in 2017, earning a reputation for raising a number of confident leopard cubs in the hills of this ancient volcanic structure.
Behind the photograph:
In July 2020, national parks re-opened to visitors and I made it my mission to return in search of Strangler, who at the time was raising another young cub. It took three days of searching her rocky territory before getting a glimpse of her walking down the dirt road in my rear-view mirror. As she passed by, she slowed down and gave the soul piercing glare captured in this image. I didn’t know it at the time, but this would ultimately be the last time I see her. She disappeared just weeks after this and has never been seen again. I feel incredibly privileged to have captured her essence in one of the last images ever taken of her.
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