Trying to police naughty and disobedient children is a universal experience, and it’s this leopard mother’s turn. Caught on camera in Thornybush in South Africa, this footage shows her calling for them as darkness falls.
Mike and Caren caught this moment on camera in the summer of 2014, and sent it in to Latest Sightings. It’s a touching moment that gives an insight into how families like these function in the wild, and how motherhood comes with universal struggles.
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Cubs and other baby animals are most vulnerable to predation by hungry animals, and the fact that they did not return immediately might be a little worrying.
Although the cubs did not return while Mike and Caren were filming, there’s no need to panic as they were reportedly all seen alive and well the next morning.
Excellent Climbers
Leopards are one of the best climbers among big cats, and this is an ability they really use to the fullest. They often climb into trees so that they can stash their kills to keep them safe from scavengers, but this mother is using it as a vantage point to see the surrounding area.
The high branches of the tree serve as an excellent lookout point for the leopard mom to keep an eye out for any potential threats that might come to see what the noises are about, and it lets her look for her cubs as well.
Although they are good climbers, leopards do not actually live in these trees, using dens, or lairs, to raise their cubs. Those cubs are also capable climbers after being only a few months old, so they’ve got no excuse for not joining their mother while she’s calling for them.
Contact Calls
The mom’s method for calling her cubs is common to big cats, and to many other kinds of animal as well. The leopard is contact calling, which is a method for these animals to find each other when separated.
Essentially, these vocalizations allow two cats to hone in on each other using sound, so that animals can find each other even when they’re out of sight. If the cubs were within earshot, then they should respond to the sound.
Worried Parent
Once the cubs didn’t arrive quickly, the leopard, presumably either angry at them for ignoring her or worried that something might have happened, jumped down from the tree.
It was likely that she was preparing to go and look for them herself and make sure they were okay. It’s likely some kind of game or exploration had distracted them too much to come when called.
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Scary Disciplinarian
If she was annoyed at them for not answering her calls, then those cubs were in for a rough time. While she was contact calling her long and sharp teeth could be clearly seen, and her strength was evident from her slow and measured pace as she climbed down the tree.
No one would want to be on the receiving end of an angry leopard, least of all disobedient cubs which were probably being naughty anyway.