Leopard- Danger Camouflaged

[Shyamala Kumar]

At Bhadra, in the evening, the quiet silence of the jungle was suddenly rent by the the warning calls of the langurs, taken up by the a single chital call.A predator was on the move.We saw something that looked like a wild dog dash across the track to the forest on the left.Our driver turned left to cut off the progress of whatever it was and stopped the vehicle on the side.We waited with with bated breath straining our eyes looking upwards into the foliage of the trees.Imagine our consternation when we espied this beauty seated right on the edge of the track, confident, of its camouflage, staring balefully up at us.Canon 60D+100-400mm.1/320s f/7.1 ISO1600 FL200MM.Late evening feb 2014.