With over 35 leopards seen in Block 1, Yala West has probably one of the world's densest leopard populations. Panther pard ,kotiya, is a distinct subspecies of its Indian cousins, the largest in Asia. The best time to see leopard is February to July, when the water level of the park is low. Vepandeniya is considered a favorite spot. However we need to be accompanied by a resident naturalist.
In Sri Lanka's Yala National Park, three men come together to form an unlikely team. One is a wildlife camerman from Scotland, who has traveled six thousand miles to Yala especially to film Asian leopards. He's counting on the guidance of two men who have dedicated years to tracking and identifying the individual leopards in the park, and know them well. One is a businessman from the capital city of Colombo and the other a local doctor from the countryside. Together, the three set out to prove that Yala is home to the the greatest concentration of leopards anywhere on earth.
Luck is with them as they document new individuals and new behavior. Infrared cameras are able to capture scenes from the noctural world of the Yala leopards for the first time, including an extraordinary face-off between leopards and a horde of hungry crocodiles over the carcass of a wild boar.
The team's efforts are rewarded, but not all their discoveries are good ones. It seems the leopards of Yala are attracting the attention not just of filmmakers and passionate naturalists. The poachers may also be gaining in numbers, which means the future of Yala's leopards is far from secure.
