Yala National Park is the most important wildlife reserve in Sri Lanka. It is renowned for the highest density of leopards in the world. Reportedly, there are more than 100 leopards roaming in the Yala Block I. Do you know who is reigning as the King among all those leopards? It is none other than YM16 – Lucas with a supreme legacy over the wildlife of the Park. Currently, Lucas is the top dominant male leopard in Yala block I. He is handsome and powerful, with all the perfect characteristics to become the King.
Lucas is a highly popular leopard among the Yala safari-goers since he is often roaming around the safari tracks. Moreover, Lucas doesn’t fear humans or safari jeeps, thus he is offering a classic sighting to almost all visitors who come to see him. He behaves with supreme grace as the King. However, becoming the King of Yala National Park and maintaining the title isn’t an easy task. He has to struggle every day to maintain the territory and chase away the rivals who are competing to become the King.
Here we are going to give you a glimpse into this powerful King’s life. We have collected many interesting details and pictures of Lucas to show you.
Early life
Lucas was born in 2017 as a son of the legendary leopardess, YF24 – Sage. She had two cubs; one was YM16 – Lucas and the other one was YM17 – Lance. Both cubs were well protected and looked after by their mother. She quite frequently exposed her cubs to visitors and eventually, they got habituated to the safari jeeps at a fairly young age.
Definitely, Sage was a brave and bold leopardess. She considers a truly exceptional mother because she raised her two cubs without her lower canine tooth. This injury was speculated to be due to a wild boar attack. The loss of this most important tooth is a fatal injury for any leopard in the wild.
The missing canine tooth made it difficult for her to hunt. However, she managed to hunt smaller prey and provide meals for her cubs. The brave mother Sage could raise these two male cubs to adulthood safely. This is an extraordinary accomplishment for a mother with an injury in the wild. The following picture shows Lance and Lucas with their mother Sage. Her hanging canine tooth is clearly visible in the photograph.
The senior leopardess Sage succumbed to injuries caused by a venomous snake bite at the Yala National Park on 17th July 2021. Definitely, her courageous effort to raise Lucas into a big powerful adult was much appreciated by wildlife lovers.
Lucas & Lance
The two siblings were inseparable from childhood. They played, hunted, and roamed through the jungle together. Wildlife photographers have captured so many lovely shots of Lucas & Lance together.
Unfortunately, Lance couldn’t establish himself as prominent as his brother. In June 2019, he was struggling with an injury that disturbed his hunting skills.
Furthermore, he started to lose weight and became weak. Eventually, he faced an untimely death on 28th August 2019 when he was only two years old. It is believed that the cause of death was another leopard attack. Although it is sad to hear, this is the basic rule of the wild where only the strong ones will survive in the jungle. Come back Lance, as a strong one!
Becoming the King
Usually, a male leopard stays with their mother till they reach 18 months. However, Lucas left his mother even earlier to claim his own territory. Bold as ever, he did not hesitate to capture large prey than his own body size. His successful hunting skills, strength, and power helped him to become the most dominant male in the area. When Lucas was around 4 years old, he was already grown into a large adult and easily acquired the throne of Yala National Park.
With his skills and power, Lucas became the superstar of Yala National Park. Imagine that you are a superstar and you don’t even know about it. Hundreds of people come every day, just as same as paparazzi zoom on their target. Usually, Lucas displays much greater tolerance and attitude towards the humans coming after him to take photographs.
But some days he isn’t in a good mood to pose for pictures. This snap shows he is getting mad at the photographers, telling them to leave him alone. But still, he is so beautiful!
The killer machine
Lucas is nicknamed as the killer machine, due to his exceptional skills in hunting. He was often observed feeding on large prey. Moreover, Lucas was spotted feeding on multiple carcasses several times. It showed that Lucas is an extremely successful hunter.
Carefree behavior
Usually, leopards select a safe place such as a tree top or a rock top to sleep. But Lucas is totally different. He can sleep anywhere, and he loves to sleep on main safari tracks without caring a bit about the world. Lucas never gets intimidated by safari jeeps or humans. He sleeps for hours sprawled on the road, creating long lines of traffic jams inside the park. By the way, he is the King and he can do whatever he wants.
Lucas & Aster
Lucas and YF39 – Aster has the most powerful relationship in Yala National Park. Although many ladies are coming after him, Lucas has a special bond with Aster. Thus, Aster considers his queen, while others are just his mates.
Aster is a pretty leopardess living in Yala Block I. She was born in 2017, the same year as Lucas. She has a very strong relationship with Lucas. Definitely, Lucas loves Aster very much and he gets anxious when she isn’t around him.
Recently, Lucas displayed quite unusual behavior. The video footage produced by Daya Safari shows Lucas was sniffing the ground and getting dangerously close to the safari vehicles. He started to crawl and tried to reach under the vehicles, intensely looking for something.
At that moment nobody knew what he was looking for. But later it was revealed by experts, he was trying to locate the scent markings left by his loving leopardess Aster. This was a truly amazing incident, which showed his endless love for Aster.
Although Lucas loves Aster, sometimes he gets irritated by her advancements. Wildlife photographers captured several interesting moments that Lucas simply refused her attempts to mate. He may want her to know that he is the King and she shouldn’t try to become more dominant than him.
Maintaining the territory
There is a number of big and powerful leopards in Yala National Park. Usually, they have separate areas for roaming and avoid clashing with each other. But YM27 – Michael is a big problem to Lucas. He was born in 2017, the same year as Lucas. Strong and powerful, Michael is the major rival of Lucas.
Since Michael is living in the same area as Lucas, they often fight for territory. The most recent battle between Lucas and Michael occurred in August 2022. There is amazing video footage that shows both are fighting vigorously. We could see their battle was so fierce and left their faces and bodies injured. Finally, Lucas managed to chase away Michael and maintain his territory as the King.
Obviously, these epic battles are death-defying and give chills to the visitors. The scars on his face provide a glimpse into his struggles to maintain the territory. We wish Michael wouldn’t become a big challenge to King Lucas in the future.
To sum up, Yala is the ultimate destination to observe the Sri Lankan leopards. Among all leopards, Lucas is the most treasured and sought-after sight in the Yala National Park. He is graceful and powerful, same time photogenic with picture-perfect poses. There is no doubt, you’ll be dazzled by his appearance when you see him. We wish Lucas will rule the Yala National Park as the King forever. Welcome guys, plan a safari trip to Yala and meet our supreme King Lucas!
Source yalaleoparddiary.com. Banner image from Sudantha Chandrasena Photography. Image credits have shown below each picture. All copyrights are reserved by the original authors.
