{"id":330599,"date":"2025-12-06T02:00:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T02:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/330599\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T02:00:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T02:00:12","slug":"a-mothers-love-13-beautifully-intimate-photos-that-capture-the-loveable-and-unbreakable-bond-between-a-leopard-mother-and-her-adorable-cubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/330599\/","title":{"rendered":"A mother’s love: 13 beautifully intimate photos that capture the loveable and unbreakable bond between a leopard mother and her adorable cubs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Suzi Eszterhas is an acclaimed photographer with several awards to her name, including both Environmental and Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Best known for documenting young animals and family life in the wild, her work has been featured in over 100 publications including National Geographic Kids, TIME and Smithsonian.<\/p>\n

Having lived in an African bush camp for three years, Eszterhas<\/a> has had extraordinary experiences during her time in the wilderness; she\u2019s swum with sloths, been chased by a green mamba and has had to fend off bears<\/a> and hyenas. She has captured wildlife images on all seven continents, recording intimate moments of natural beauty.<\/p>\n

Despite spending many years photographing big cats, Eszterhas had always been eluded by leopards. Then she met an individual known as Camp Female, at Tubu Tree in Botswana’s Jao Reserve. “The animals here live in a haven, protected from poachers, vehicle crowding and harassment,” she says.<\/p>\n

View for more of Suzi Eszterhas\u2019 images on her website.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"“Camp Female grew up around safari vehicles behaving responsibly and, as a result, is the most relaxed leopard I have ever known.” \u00a9 Suzi Ezsterhas<\/p>\n

“Camp Female grew up around safari vehicles behaving responsibly and, as a result, is the most relaxed leopard I have ever known.” Suzi Eszterhas <\/p>\n

\"\"Camp Female gave birth to two female cubs in March 2018. This was her third litter, and Suzi started photographing the youngsters when they were just five weeks old. Suzi Eszterhas
\n\"\"Leopard cubs are aggressive in play, and these siblings were no exception. If a skirmish was particularly intense, one of the pair would break off and return to its mother for a nuzzle before re-entering the fray. Suzi Eszterhas
\n\"\"Ever watchful for predators such as baboons and lions, Camp Female scours the landscape from atop a dead tree. Leopards are thought of as nocturnal, but will hunt in the day if the opportunity arises. Suzi Eszterhas
\n\"\"Though these youngsters played excessively together, that did not mean their mother was off the hook. “They seemed obsessed with jumping on her head, and took any opportunity they could for ambush, making it rather difficult for her to rest,” says Suzi. Suzi Eszterhas
\n\"\"From a young age, leopards are fascinated by their mother’s tail. The youngsters would follow the movement of the tail, then pounce on it, seizing it in their mouths. Suzi Eszterhas
\n\"\"Returning at sunrise from hunting, Camp Female is greeted by one of her cubs. Mothers can leave youngsters for a day and a half when searching for prey, but this readies them for the feast-or-famine feeding style they’ll endure as adults. Suzi Eszterhas
\n\"\"Females may summon cubs from their hiding place with a faint call, if the coast is clear. Here, at four months old, the cubs appear delighted to see their mother, greeting her with exuberant nuzzles. Suzi Eszterhas
\n\"\"Leopard cub mortality is high, with less than 50 per cent typically surviving to adulthood. Both of Camp Female’s cubs thrived, however, and by the age of four months were noticeably bigger, stronger and more agile. Suzi Eszterhas
\n\"\"Even at a year old, the cubs are still very attached to the female. Many cubs stay with their mothers for 12-16 months; some, as revealed in a recent study, even stick around for as long as 35 months. Suzi Eszterhas
\n\"\"Here, Camp Female has cornered a kudu calf, but has intentionally not suffocated it, in order for her cubs to master the skill for themselves. On this occasion, they secured a meal, eventually. Suzi Eszterhas
\n\"\"Having become proficient climbers, the young leopards doze away the midday hours in the cool and safety of the trees. In a few months, the siblings will be on the cusp of independence. Suzi Eszterhas
\n\"\"Of all the big cats, leopards are the most adept at climbing, with males famously able to drag carcasses three times their own weight up into the branches. Here, one of Camp Female’s cubs chases her up a steep, sheer trunk. Suzi Eszterhas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Suzi Eszterhas is an acclaimed photographer with several awards to her name, including both Environmental and Wildlife Photographer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-330599","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}