Know the facts - they could save your life!
Never track these leopards:
If a leopard is injured or very old or is a mother with cubs, stay away!
Avoid conflict:
If you see a leopard and are not already walking directly toward it, you must:
- Not stop walking
- Do not look at it
- Do not stand still!
Keep your eyes down:
If you are on foot in the bush, you can actually pass by a hiding leopard - as long as your eyes don’t meet, you could be safe. You must NEVER look at a leopard in the eyes on foot. If you see one out of the corner of your eye, pretend to ignore it and keep your eyes off it.
Watch out for the leopards warnings signs:
Leopards will normally warn you with a growl; their nose lifted and eyes staring straight at you. Then their ears will be pulled down and they will slap at the ground with their front feet. Following this is a
warning charge (this is usually a run in an arc shape to expose their flank with very stiff legs as they are trying to look bigger). The warning charge will be accompanied by a lot of growling and kicking up of dust.
Never Run:
If a leopard warns you, do not face it directly and start moving away from it sideways. Never ever run. If it charges, stand your ground and try to intimidate it by taking a step forward, raise your arms and shout at it. When the charge stops, start backing out again.
Leopard Attack:
If a leopard is going to attack you, they will charge at you very low and very very fast. There will be NO vocalization just before or during the charge. Once committed, only a fatal bullet will stop a full charge.
Safety defenses:
Some defenses that have saved people are knives, punching the leopard in the nose or choking it until it dies. These are obviously extreme cases.
REMEMBER:
Leopards do not see humans as food and will not hunt to eat humans unless they are very old or injured. Instead they see humans as neutral beings – neither food, nor competition.
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