CELEBRITY SPOTTING IN KRUGER

HIS SPIKY LUNCH

On a recent trip to the Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga couple May and Peter Craig-Cooper followed a leopard for 16 days near Tshokwane, documenting his porcupine-hunting exploits. The cat, which seemed to bask in its celebrity, prowled around the culverts at the roadside seeking its favourite prey.

A BIG cat with a taste for prickly prey turned out be the highlight of an Mpumalanga couple’s recent trip to the Kruger National Park.

May Craig-Cooper, who captured a series of dramatic photographs of one of the park’s leopards hunting porcupine, said she and her husband, Peter, first encountered the animal on August 8.

“He was hunting for porcupine in the culverts that were placed under the tar road, about 10km north of Tshokwane,” she said.

Leopards are known for their elusive nature but. “Scarface” – as the Craig-Coopers dubbed him, owing to a distinctive scar on his nose – appeared to revel in the spotlight and quickly amassed an impressive following.

“He was not too concerned about the traffic,” Craig-Cooper said.

Every day, for 16 days, the couple found Scarface along the same 22km stretch of road. They witnessed him make three kills and attempt several others.

“On one occasion, while he was at a culvert, he took off and fled because of three large male lions walking down the road,” Craig-Cooper said.

“The last kill we witnessed took place after we had followed him for a few kilometres, in a culvert.”

She described the sighting in detail: “Scarface chased two porcupine out from under the road. Both ran off into the bush. Scarface then entered the culvert and at that point, one of the porcupine returned to the front.

“We could only reason that they may have had a youngster left behind, because why return with the possibility of getting eaten?

“The porcupine moved around at the entrance.

“He then proceeded to enter the pipe, which is when the leopard must have caught it. Only the quills were protruding from the pipe when we noticed there was no further movement. It had obviously been killed.”

Craig-Cooper said Scarface often came away with battle wounds. “But he did manage to remove all the quills from each encounter when next we saw him,” she added.

While the sighting clearly delighted the couple, she said: “We just hope he does not completely obliterate all the porcupine in this area.”

PICTURES: PETER CRAIG-COOPER Scarface the leopard with his porcupine prey in the Kruger National Park. Left: The leopard licks his lips after relishing his kill, with a few quills caught in his fur after feasting. Porcupine meat is said to be particularly tasty.