An African Adventure

Story of Rika, the leopard

Having seen four of the Big Five, we were looking for a leopard the whole morning. Towards the middle of the safari, I saw vultures circling around in the distance. Peter Zulu, our guide, said that the lion or leopard may have killed something. As we were returning back, Peter slowed down and stopped. The ground was level with thinly populated trees. Then I saw the vultures. They blended with the brown landscape and the trees. To the right of the Land Rover was a giant bush about 10 feet high and twice as wide. A colony of vultures stood in front of the bush. Through the binoculars the vultures seemed to be guarding what

looked like a thorny entrance to the bush. Even a small cat would have had to crawl to seek refuge inside; an ideal place for a leopard to enjoy its kill in peace. Peter was sure that the leopard was inside with the vultures beating around the bush. My thoughts? Rika, the leopard, had allegedly killed Kudu, the deer, on sacred ground. Baboons, sworn enemies of the leopard, sneaked the news that Rika was hiding in a tall bush very close to Puzhavazhi , the sacred ground. They spread the message far and wide, assembling all animals in the Luangwa Valley. The keen-eyed vultures, circled and guarded the lone doorway to the thorny bush. Rika had committed the heinous crime at four in the morning. The only witness was Barush, the baboon, who had barely escaped Rika’s wrath a month ago. Since then Barush, the most sly member of the valley’s paparazzi, was stalking Rika. Barush claimed that Rika had gone hungry over a week and had now killed kudu and that he had a mental snapshot of the crime as proof. Kudu’s tribe sought revenge and vowed that Rika will be punished. Seembah, the lion king, who was in constant threat of losing his seat to Jimbah the elephant, will have to preside and make a ruling. The ruling council, at the beginning of the summer season, had passed the rule that Puzhavazhi , the passageway to the shrinking river bed, be considered sacred ground and that all members of the Animal Kingdom be given safe passage. Geeraffe, the guardian of Puzhavazhi , obviously had his head in the clouds or fallen asleep giving Barush a golden chance to get even. Did Rika actually kill Kudu? Was she then foolish enough to hide in the bush? If found guilty, will the vultures argue the case on behalf of Rika or against? If proven guilty, what punish- ment will Rika face? What do you think?