Alice, a 12 year old leopard, famous in the park for her bold nature. The mother of the 4 cubs I followed alongside her.
Alice's elder daughter was shy, unlike her mother, but she was a very successful hunter.
With lions and hyenas prowling, the safest place for a leopards meal was high up in the trees from any potential thieves.
The gullies across the plains have been carved out by hippopotamuses moving from the river to the grasslands. The gullies provide leopards with the ultimate ambush point.
In 2014, Alice gave birth to what we think were her final two cubs. Both of whom survived to adulthood to carry on her reign.
It took 2 weeks to find the cubs as they hid amongst the undergrowth and up trees.
What seemed like playing was no doubt important practice for future survival.
Alice would leave her cubs for hours as she went to hunt, only returning to take them to the kill or nurse them.
For a young leopard cub trees are the safest place, away from any opportunistic hyenas, lions or even other leopards.
Alice would take her cubs to her kills only when it was safe to do so.
The young saplings and shrubs provided the perfect climbing frames for the cubs.
An unexpected relationship grew between the cubs and Alice's older son.
He was fast becoming the dominant male in the area and it was amazing to see his tolerance of the cubs.
Leopards can hunt on the ground or even up trees in search of primates.
Baboons provide a good meal but fighting off the rest of the troop can carry risks.