Changing Its Spots

Charukesi Ramadurai stalks the Sri Lankan leopard at Yala national park. despite its high numbers, sightings are tricky. call it the thrill of the chase

- Charukesi Ramadurai

Sri Lanka is that kind of place we call ‘same same but different’. Everything feels familiar: the lush paddy fields swaying in the afternoon summer breeze; the good-natured grins that locals flash without a hint of self-consciousness; the neat line of colourful autorickshaws along the roads; and the mad whir of the safari jeep as drivers rush to overtake others just to get a hundred metres ahead.

Yet everything feels off, ever so slightly. For a start, the roads are super smooth, with not a single pothole in sight. And the drivers who whiz purposefully, my own included, slow down immediately with a sheepish look on their faces, as if guided by an invisible hand. In this land of gentle people, cutting lanes is as unacceptable a concept as speaking loudly or frowning at visitors.

The forests of Sri Lanka have the highest concentration of leopards in the world, and sighting them is a matter of near certainty. Add to it the fact that in this habitat, leopards are the apex predators, unlike in Indian forests where tigers rule, forcing leopards to play down their prowess. I have read all this before, and am repeating it mentally right now for reassurance.

Our local guide-driver Sumanth is a bundle of optimism, brandishing his mobile phone and swearing solemnly to show us leopards. Not just many leopards in Yala, he tells us comfortingly, but they are also used to human movement. And so, we enter the gates of Yala National Park for our first safari just before 3 pm, eyes peeled and cameras at the ready.

The first sighting of the day is a gang of wild pigs, mummy and daddy herding a dozen little ones across the mud tracks. The babies freeze and move, freeze and move, clearly not yet fully trained in forest road rules, before disappearing from sight. As we peer into the bushes behind them, we catch sight of a couple of elephants frolicking in the mud, tearing up bamboo shoots for a mid-afternoon snack.