Stalked by a Leopard! - a photo on Flickriver

            Have you ever been stalked by a leopard? 

This look? The decisive moment for Samson, the Amur Leopard right before he tried to attack me!

Not something on my bucket list... Not something I thought I'd ever face... But...

I was taking pictures of Samson, the four year old Amur Leopard at Brookfield Zoo. He was quite active this day - roaming his habitat - going for birds if they strayed too close. I hoped to get some good action shots. He's grown quite large now - 5 feet? 100 lbs? A sizeable cat - much larger than his mom, Lisa. 

It was cold and in the middle of the week - there were very few people around - in fact, I was alone with him. He was high up on the rocks - a typical place, and I moved over by the netting on the right side, and leaned in to minimize the appearance of the netting in the image capture. 

He suddenly, intently focused on me, then moved along the rocks, toward the angled log that lets them climb up and down on that side of the habitat. Running first, then slowing, as he moved down the log - leading to the look you see.

I didn't realize it at the time, but he was stalking me. Judging that maybe, just maybe I was close enough to get at. Sizing me up.

Me? I was oblivious as to his intent - I was happy to get some big cat action!

Then he raced down the log, bounded to the ground, right toward me! I was just trying to keep him in the frame, but couldn't see his actions clearly, he was moving so fast!

Before I knew it, he leapt and hit the netting, bowing it way out toward me - he was going for my head! I backed away, the netting held, and he had a disappointed look on his face. 

If you've seen Encanto, in the "Don't Eat Those" scene, the Jaguar has the same expression - I should post it.

Playing? Hunting? Both? I oddly did not feel frightened by this - but it could have been dangerous. 

He did variations of this charge a few more times, but none as powerfully as that first leap. A couple of times he snuck up on me and was next to me before I knew it - again on the netting. After a while, he went up on the rocks for a nap, and I left...

A crazy encounter for sure. Hopefully I provided him some novel entertainment - a respite from his usual life. I won't soon forget it!

Taken in: United States / Illinois / Riverside Township / Riverside (show map)

Taken on: March 8, 2022

Tags:

Leopard

Cat

Animal

Amur Leopard

Brookfield

Cook County

USA

Brookfield Zoo

2022

March

Afternoon

Light

Illinois

Zoo

Panthera pardus orientalis

Endangered

Critically Endangered

Animals

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Big Five

Cats

Big Cat

Kitty

Orange

Black

White

Cream

Cinnamon

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Nikon

Nikon Z9

Nikon 70-200mm

700-200mm

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR

Nikkor

Zoom

Handheld

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Vignette

Death

Staring

Me « less

Sets appears in: • Brookfield Zoo+ • Big Cats more » • Explored « less

Groups appears in: • Brookfield Zoo (Brookfield/Riverside, IL) • Zoos Around the World more » • Flickr Big Cats • Photo Infos • AFCASTELLÓ • in explore • !! * Finest Photoart * !! Admin Invite Only • THERE IS NO LIMIT FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC CREATION • QUID (PdF) - invite only • EXPLORER PHOTOS FROM 2021 AND ALSO OF THE PAST, • THE UNIQUE BEAUTY OF THE LEOPARDS.LA BELLEZA UNICA DE LOS LEOPAR • Pictures at an Exhibition « less

Camera: Nikon Z 9, f/2.8, 1/800 sec, 200mm, ISO 450 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon Z 9
Lens:	VR 70-200mm f/2.8E
Aperture:	f/2.8
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/800)
Focal Length:	200mm
ISO:	450
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 23.2 (Windows)
Show full info

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