Famed for their graceful beauty, the endangered mountain leopards live in the misty mountains of the central highlands. Basically, The world heritage site in the highlands including Horton Plains National Park and Adam’s Peak Wilderness Reserve are the preferred places for mountain leopards. Yet, many do not know of their existence, since they clearly avoid human encounters. Due to this mysterious behavior, they call as “Ghosts in Horton Plains”. Definitely, mountain leopards in Sri Lanka are the secret predators and the undisputed kings of the Central Highlands.
Although they roam freely around the parks and surrounding forest edges, catching a glimpse or a good photograph of these elusive big cats is an almost impossible task. Only talented wildlife photographers with experience and a good pair of eyes may witness these magnificent creatures. Usually, the central highlands area is covered with thick fog and mist, making it quite difficult to witness the leopards. Moreover, they can easily hide among the tall grass and dense forests. Furthermore. they can camouflage themselves so effectively that the visitors may not notice their presence.
Here we are going to describe everything about these graceful big cats in Sri Lanka. Although information about Sri Lankan Leopards in the mountains isn’t readily available, we have collected some interesting details and photographs to show you.
Habitat of mountain leopards
They live in an average elevation of 2000-2300 m above Sea Level. The most well-known locations of mountain leopards are Horton Plains National Park and Adam’s Peak wildlife reserve. But they aren’t limited to these parks. They can be found in small and fragmented habitats around the Hill Country areas.
The grasses on the open plains are vital grazing grounds for Sambar, the favourite food of leopards. Since Horton Plains is home to vast herds of Sambar, it is the perfect place for leopards to hunt for their prey.
While the lowland leopards live in warm tropical weather, the mountain leopards live in the harshest cold conditions in the highlands. Since this is the coldest area in the country, mountain leopards have thick fur coats to protect them from the harsh cold.
Why they are mysterious?
Definitely, Leopards in Horton Plains are shy and reclusive. This behaviour makes leopard sightings quite rare. The mountainous landscape limits human interaction, thus they often try to avoid humans. The climate is also foggy and misty, which makes spotting leopards more difficult in thick grassland.
Despite their size, the tall grass can easily conceal their presence as they can camouflage themselves with the surroundings. Hence, they still remain a total mystery and many visitors don’t even know that there are leopards in Horton Plains.
Mountain leopards vs. Lowland leopards
Though all the leopards found in Sri Lanka are subspecies Panthera pardus kotiya, the mountain leopards have rather a different appearance from the leopards in Yala National Park. The altitude, landscape, and cold weather may have caused their different physical characteristics. For example, mountain leopards have large and broader facial structures compared to their lowland counterparts.
This picture shows a comparison of the face of a Yala leopard and a mountain leopard. Clearly, the leopards in Yala have slim and slender faces.
Moreover, their body appears larger and fattier in shape than leopards in Yala. This is because mountain leopards have plenty of food available in the hills than in other areas. Due to less competition, they have high accessibility to their prey. It seems the abundance of high-quality protein they get from Sambar may have resulted in these physiological changes.
This picture shows a grown adult leopard in Yala and Horton Plains. Obviously, mountain leopards have a rather fatty body than slender Yala leopards.
Moreover, it is well known that most of the Yala leopards don’t get intimidated by the presence of humans or safari jeeps. They are quite photogenic and always camera-ready with picture-perfect poses. But mountain leopards are quite reclusive and tend to hide upon hearing even the slightest human sound.
Identifying mountain leopards
Although the leopards in Yala are identified and given their names, there isn’t any database of mountain leopards in Sri Lanka. When talking about mountain leopards, the only resource available is a Facebook group called as “Leopards of Horton Plains – Identification”. It is a group formed by wildlife photographers and conservationists to make an effort to not only study leopards but also educate the park’s visitors about them.
The group’s admins include the Founder Sankha Wanniatchi, Heshara Aluthge, Ravisara Jayamanna, and Milinda Wattegedara. They joined this group when studying leopards was started back in 2013. Thanks to their courageous effort, so far 17 leopards have been identified between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Still, the exact number of mountain leopards is unknown due to the challenges of studying such an elusive big cat in the freezing weather on the plains.
During their research, some of the mountain leopards in Horton Plains are identified and given a specific code. The code contains HPM or HPF before the number, HP for Horton Plains, and M or F for male or female. Although more than 25 leopards roam in the area, identifying all of them isn’t an easy task. Getting a leopard sighting in the Horton Plains depends on many factors as well as the luck of the visitors.
Here we are going to show you some interesting details and marvelous shots of mountain leopards in Horton Plains shared through this group.
HPF 04
HPF 04 is a legendary leopardess living in Horton Plains. She is the mother of popular cubs HPF06, HPF07 & HPM08. She did a great job habituating her cubs to visitors at a fairly young age. Thus, these cubs are less intimidated by humans, unlike other leopards.
Currently, there has been an increase in leopard sightings at Horton Plains National Park. This is not due to an increase in the leopard population, but some leopards are becoming accustomed to seeing people. When the mother leopard is habituated, her cubs also follow her.
HPF 06
She is one of the female cubs of HPF04. She is roaming around the areas of Aranga Pool, 24th-mile post, Sri pada View Point, Dormitory, and Mahaeliya Bungalow. Relative to her other siblings, she isn’t much habituated to the humans and quite shy to come out from the jungle.
HPF 07
She is one of the female cubs of HPF04. Unlike her reclusive sister, she is rather less shy and prefers to roam around in the areas frequented by humans. This gorgeous leopardess is a well-known beauty among wildlife photographers. Thus, she is called as the Princess of Horton Plains. She is often seen around the Maha Eliya staff bungalow and Sri Pada viewpoint.
HPM 08
He is the only male cub among the 2020 litter of HPF 04. Call as the Prince of Horton Plains, he is often roaming around a big area including the Pattipola Entrance, Thotupalakanda Trail, Aranga Pool and Sri Pada Viewpoint. He is a totally handsome leopard, with the perfect physique to become the future king of Horton Plains. Since he is not much afraid of humans, several gorgeous photographs of him are available.
He has a very unique and distinguishable set of rosette markings. There are three small rosettes close to his left eye and a marking shaped like a sickle on top of his right eye. Unlike his sisters, he is less shy and playful. He’s going to be a legendary male leopard in the clouded forests of Horton Plains.
Where you can see them?
There are several areas used as good vantage points frequented by the leopards of Horton Plains. These places are their crossing points, for instance. These places are Thotupola Mountain Trail, Kirigalpoththa Trail, Arrenga Pool, Sri Pada Viewpoint, Maha Eliya Bungalow, and the Wildlife Department Dormitory. Most of the available photographs are captured by wildlife photographers in these places.
Although leopards are roaming in these areas, they can easily camouflage themselves with the surrounding. Thus, you need to keep a close eye on color variations in the grass. The best evidence of their presence is the alarm calls of the Sambar and Purple-faced Leaf Monkeys, who are all prey species of the leopard. Still, one should be extremely lucky to witness them in these misty plains. Nevertheless, luck can run in one’s favor from time to time and gives the opportunity to get a glimpse of them.
If one is truly lucky, the drives up and down between the Pattipola and Ohiya entrances can give you a chance to find a leopard crossing the road right in front of you. These are extremely rare and once-in-a-lifetime encounters. Usually, they appear so suddenly only for a few seconds and mostly give no time to take a photograph. Hence capturing a good photograph of a mountain leopard in Sri Lanka is a really big challenge.
Threats to mountain leopards
Although mountain leopards are completely safe inside national parks, they are quite vulnerable outside the protected areas. Sometimes, these mysterious predators venture down to the villages lower down seeking easy livestock. Mountain leopards are opportunistic hunters, they like to hunt goats, chickens, and even village dogs. They faced deadly risks during these hunting trips. The most prominent risk these leopards are facing is falling victim to the snares. Hence, more effective measures are clearly needed to protect them outside the parks.
Protecting mountain leopards
Horton Plains is Sri Lanka’s only National Park where one can get down from the vehicle while on tour. Thus, it is quite important to learn about the presence of leopards in these areas. Especially visitors who are going hiking and trekking on Thotupola Mountain Trail, and Kirigalpoththa Trail should be aware that leopards live in these areas. It is advised to hike in groups, rather than hiking alone.
The top wilderness refuges for mountain leopards are Horton Plains National Park and Adam’s Peak wilderness area. Thus, it requires strict protection and conservation efforts in these parks to preserve them. The current conservation programs include erecting sign boards in the spots frequented by the leopards of Horton Plains. Moreover, there are efforts to protect them by building the Peak Ridge Forest Corridor between the surrounding sanctuaries and reserves to enhance the preservation of these extremely vulnerable leopards in Sri Lanka. Let’s protect these splendid big cats for future generations.!
Source Leopards of Horton Plains – Identification. Image credits have shown below each picture. All copyrights are reserved by the original authors.
