“Did you see those eyes…….?” Nick’s voice was hesitant and anxious. The 2,500 metre beam of the “Calliber” torch cut through the moonlight and fell upon a pair of reddish eyes about 10 feet off the ground. I squinted into the darkness straining to see what this creature was. My heart started pounding and adrenalin rushed in as I expected to hear Nick shout “run, elephant” at any moment.

I was ready to bolt from the well as fast as I could but Nick’s reassuring “it’s an owl” relaxed my taut nerves.
This was the precursor to a night under the starry skies of Yala; enlivened by the spicy jungle stories of the veteran Nick and hands on encounters of “K.G.” of “Leopard Hunters” fame. There were two “firsts” for me on this my umpteenth trip to the wilds of Sri Lanka – it was my first drive on the Southern Express Highway and first camping safari in any major National Park. I had been under canvas long years ago before Maduru Oya was declared a national park but Jamburagala was something special.

We were up long before sunrise the following morning at the insistence of Tony who did not want to miss the spotted one at any cost. Piling into KG’s trusty Land Rover we headed out of Jamburagala at the crack of dawn. The Ruhunu jungles were parched, the grass tinder dry. The animals – especially the buffalo and wild boar, were vying for places at whatever muddy little pool available to quench their thirst or cool off in the soothing clay.

Yala is crying out for road maintenance. A particular stretch of the main road is so uneven, that one shudders along for at least 20 minutes, after which the bone-jarring drive leaves one wondering whether you are now getting too old for this game and would be more at home on the tarred roads of Nuwara Eliya or Kandy or some such civilised place! Judging by the enormous inflow of vehicles into Yala and the ensuing income, one wonders why the authorities are reluctant to channel at least 1/4th of this into the park for its maintenance.

We hastened towards Suduwelimulla Road as the sun rose in the eastern skies. A sharp bend in the road brought us the first sighting of Sri Lanka’s Big Three – silhouetted against the skyline at the edge of a waterhole were two elephants. The sudden appearance of the Land Rover disturbed them a bit, after which they attempted to take cover behind a small thicket. This was not very successful, so they decided to saunter off nonchalantly right by the vehicle towards an appetising looking copse keeping a wary eye on us all the time.

It was getting warmer and the leopards were proving elusive. KG for no reason decided to turn into the Thalgasmankada road, hoping we would have better luck. We met several jeeps returning with many disappointed faces in them. No leopard! We drove on a bit further and came across a Land Rover parked in the middle of the road with a single occupant holding a camera with a huge tele-photo lens. KG did not waste any time and drew up by its side and nosed himself in front. Seated right in the middle of the road looking at us unflinchingly, the dappled sunlight showing off her tawny hide, was a gorgeous leopard.

After a couple of minutes she stood up, looked over her shoulder beckoningly and strolled majestically across the jeep track and hesitated at the edge of the jungle. Tumbling onto the road soon after, was junior as cute as a fluffy kitten; looking at us with large limpid eyes and with a “hold on while I catch up with mama” look, he hurriedly scampered towards mama’s side.KG’s sixth sense led us to this unforgettable sighting which made our day and we headed back to camp for a hearty breakfast and a siesta.
We had by now seen two of Sri Lanka’s big three and only old “bruin” eluded us.

However, news was trickling through of a bear haunting Buttuwa over the last week. We headed off towards Buttuwa and as we got near, we came across no less than 20 vehicles with occupants craning their necks to catch a glimpse of bruin who was up a Maliththan tree helping himself to the berries. He gorged himself for a long time and finally clambered down and came into the open. He then sat on his haunches, gave himself a good scratch for the cameras and shuffled towards a termite mound and began investigating it in earnest; poking his nose into crevices and tearing it open with his claws to get at the termites.

As dusk began to fall over Yala we made tracks for camp. On the way we came across a vehicle parked by a small water hole. On inquiry we were told a leopard had been spotted in the scrub jungle behind making its way to the water. We took up our positions behind the vehicle when out strode a leopard; crouched down low and began lapping up the water. He drank long and hard; got up and gingerly made his way around the water hole.

It was then that we saw that his condition was really poor. He was so emaciated that he probably would not have eaten for a couple of weeks. He hung his head towards one side and seemed to harbour an injury to some part of his face or neck. He made his way painfully and was crossing the road when the tracker in the other vehicle made a sound. He spun around and nearly toppled over in his attempt, but gathered himself and limped off into the jungle. A week after our return to Colombo we learnt that he had died after being set upon by wild boar. His carcass had been taken to the Yala Park office. We also learnt that a couple of weeks before our visit two leopards had had a territorial fight and this poor animal was probably the vanquished. A sad sight indeed.

We sat out that evening at camp thinking of the morrow that would take us back to that necessary evil – civilisation! Bacchus kept us company as experiences were related and questions were asked as to how long we will be able to enjoy such solitude and observe such wonders of nature. The questions went unanswered. However the dying embers of the camp fire served as a stark reminder that its very existence depended on you and me.

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