Wahoo lost his mother as a young cub of 2 weeks and was hand raised, living in the home of the owners of Okonjima Reserve. When he turned 2 he started to get restless and indicated he wanted more space and was released into a full game reserve.
Unfortunately, as he had not been raised by his mum, his hunting skills were not the best. His attempt to hunt a full grown oryx, ended in tears and a rather serious injury to his stomach.
After being fixed up by a vet, he now lives in his own private reserve and is fed twice a day.
Today, we are privileged to be witness to this. We sit in a hide within 10 feet of the trees where donkey meat has been hung. 
We watch in fascination as this elegant cat goes about his dinner. I have always wanted to get some beautiful shots of a leopard on a tree. Well, Wahoo isn’t really wild, but what a great opportunity. 
Leopards are at their prime between 8-12 years. After that, their chances of survival in the wild will depend on many constraints including the availability of food and injury.
Wahoo is currently 11 years old and he will live to be somewhere between 15 – 20 years old. His chances of survival in captivity are almost double that of in the wild.
A healthy diet and yearly visits by a vet means this leopard has a privileged life. 
We continue to watch his behaviour after his meal. He licks his chops, indicating he has had a feast and then makes his way to the pond for a drink.
He has been known to hunt the fish in this pond but today, he is happy to just have a drink.
We chat in the hide and try to come up with the differences between cheetahs and leopards. Cheetahs have a tear drop on their face and spots on their skin, while leopards have rosettes in addition to spots. Leopards are solitary animals, more muscular and will eat a far greater variety of food including fruit and dead kill, while a cheetah will only eat live kill.
The hunting skills of these 2 cats are completely different. While a cheetah will run after its prey and bring it down a leopard will stalk and pounce. 
If you startle a cheetah or a leopard on a bush walk you react completely differently. While you stare a cheetah down, you lower your eyes and back away slowly from a leopard. Fortunately, I have not had to put this to the test as yet.
On our way back, we get a lesson in zebra poo! Being able to identify the different kind of dung is also part and parcel of our day.
The sun is setting once more as we head home. It’s been just another day in Africa.
“There are chapters in every life which are seldom read and certainly not aloud”. Carol Shields
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