Leopards: Louis & Ella (check out more photos in the Gallery)
2012
27 February: They are now back to two feeds a week. They are still fed every Monday afternoon and the extra feed comes along on a day we have something extra special to give them. Last week they got to enjoy a heart and a liver on their extra feed and finished it off in no time. Last Tuesday they had some extra fun with a big red Boomer Ball that was donated to them. Princess Ella was too busy being grumpy to play along, but goofy Louis loved it, until it got stuck underneath the tree and he couldn’t be bothered getting it out.
7 January: Ella has become a bit cheeky lately, creating extra work for the volunteers and staff by digging underneath the fence of the little capturing area in their enclosure. She and Louis have started to spend lots of time together after a period of keeping to themselves. During the day they like to sun-bake in the bottom enclosure and at evening time they come back to the top part. They still get fed once a week and are looking great.
2011
1 November: The leopards are doing extremely well and are as beautiful as ever. Louis is really big now and weighs in easily above 80kg. Ella on the other hand weighs about 35kg. Last week we hid small pieces of meat and skin in the trees in their camp. When we released the two out of the enclosures, Louis instantly went into search mode looking for the hidden food. He found it easily, Ella was not as successful, finding only one piece on one of the rocks.
12 October: Ella has been extra emotional this week – going from running up to you to be patted to hissing and growling for no apparent reason. Louis has been spending most of his time at the bottom enclosure sitting up the tree with his back legs hanging down just like he used to when he was a baby. They are settling down quite nicely in their enclosure but we are planning on extending it so they’ll have some extra space for playtime!
Ella loves her food! (Photo: April 2011)
27 September: The monkeys have been taunting the leopards again. One of them was actually up on the top of their enclosure shaking the fence the other day and got Ella so excited she jumped straight up to try and get the monkey through the bars. She pounced from her little hut all the way to the top in one go. Their feeding plan is still the same and they still get their Felly Cal and Predator Powder. Ella is usually more friendly when she is hungry and Louis comes up quite often but you need to be careful not to get sprayed on or you’ll end up smelling like popcorn for the rest of the day.
12 September: As they’re now being fed only once a week, there is no need to clean their enclosure more than once a week. When we clean, we rake, clear bones and poo; check there are no weeds growing on the electric fence etc. They’ve been really seeking out human attention once again, so during animal time we go and spend time with them as well. And now they actually come over and jump on top of their hut to be able to be scratched by us through the fence.
8 August: Ella and Louie have been enjoying sprawling out in the warmer weather. Louis, with very good aim, managed to spray one of our volunteers! But fortunately leopard urine smells quite pleasantly of popcorn, and the cubs seemed to love it too.
11 JULY: The leopards have gotten some work done in their enclosure lately. We have been fixing their gates and put some logs up for Ella to climb to the top of her house instead of making her jump to the top with dinner in her mouth. They are both very well.
23 MAY: The leopards ate all their food this week. It seemed like Louis was very relaxed when he ate while Ella ‘stole’ her food and ate it on the roof as if to make sure that nobody gets to it. They’re big and beautiful!
12 MAY: They are growing up beautifully! We’ve just started feeding them half a leg each. Currently we are feeding them every second day. Louis has calmed down quite a bit when it comes to feeding time but Ella is still aggressive and protective over food — greedy girl!
25 APRIL: Ella and Louis are just beautiful, and have learnt the system of eating at separate ends. Ella always eats up to top side closest to Mube, while Louis runs down the bottom and follows the person with his dinner. Ella always eats up on top of the shelter, and apart from eating they are very friendly with each other and pay and sleep close to each other. They are around their full size, perhaps Louis may grow some more. They still come over for pets through the fence, but Louis becomes paranoid and hisses at us – maybe he is wondering why we sitting watching him?!
14 MARCH: Our amazing leopards are doing excellently. We see them every day and pat and talk to them through the fence. They are eating every 2nd day but getting more food – like double ribs and extra chicken. We feed them at opposite ends of the enclosure to avoid them fighting over food. They still squeak to us and make funny noises but the sounds are getting deeper as they get older.
FEBRUARY:
Louis - pictured February 2011
16TH: Our leopards are very healthy and beautiful, and are still getting fed every 2 days. This week we had to activate their electric fence for the first time as Louis started to dig around the fencing. They are now used to the fence being on after adapting to the change. We also have to feed one leopard in one side of the enclosure and the other leopard at the other end to avoid them fighting each other as Ella becomes very protective over her food.
JANUARY:
25TH: Today we cleaned out their enclosure and made it much neater and tidier. We removed bushes, weeds, vines and cleaned out their water trough while Ella and Louis were locked up in their smaller sleeping area. Both leopards are looking very healthy and shiny. Ella has become very protective over her food and Louis will wait for her to get her food first.
2010
DECEMBER:
20TH: Louis and Ella are not your usual hiding leopards. Both are always coming up to the fence to receive some love and are often spotted on the roof of the shelters just hanging out together. Ella still loves her chicken and both get a treat of the leftover giblets that the Servals can’t have. Both still make funny noises and squeak when we bring them food.
14TH: The leopards are being very sweet and are always coming up to the fence to talk. When you call Louis’ name he always comes up to receive pets through the fence. He also now likes to sleep up on top of the roof of their houses, which makes him very easy to spot for all the public on the boardwalk. Ella is always climbing the trees and she is so hard to see with her excellent camouflage. They are still on an eating plan of ribs or chicken every 2nd day.
7TH: The leopards are getting much more mature and very curious about everything around them even with the smallest movement they are up and alert. We have stopped going in to the enclosure as they are becoming too playful and we would rather not take any chances. Louis is an absolute teddy bear through the fence and loves to come up and interact through it.
Louis having a roll - mid-November 2010
NOVEMBER:
29TH: Ella and Louis are behaving so well and always come up to the fence to say hello. The other day Delano built a terrace at the edge of their enclosure because Louis likes to sit in the corner and dig all the dirt/sand away. However, the next day Louis had managed to pull the terrace apart. So Delano went back in and rebuilt it, with a different technique but Louis still managed to figure out how to destroy it. Tomorrow we shall try again and see if we can build something indestructible!
23RD: These cubs are maturing into beautiful leopards. Louis still likes to flirt with the girls and both always come up to receive pets through the fence. Ella likes to take her chicken/rib up onto the roof of their little houses to eat and Louis likes the attention from us feeders before taking his food to eat. Their extra treat every now and then is the chicken carcass we have left over from cutting up chicken for the servals which Ella loves. See the latest photos below.
Louis
Louis getting up close and personal
15TH: Ella has become so much more assertive in the leopard relationship. Gone are the days when she sat back and let Louis take the food first. She loves her chicken and makes sure she has first dibs. Louis, being a wise male, steers clear until she has had enough. Poor boy! 
8TH: Louis and Ella are good as always. The other day we fed them a rib each and Ella got hers stuck under the fence in their house so she ran over to Louis’s and tried to steal his. They ended up in a fight with them rolling around making the craziest noises, then Louis backed off and walked away while Ella went back to the rib and started eating and hissing. Today they are getting a leg to eat and share together. Ella also climbs the poles, and Delano saw her climb all the way up to boardwalk level.
2ND: Louis and Ella are still getting fed every 2nd day with either chicken or ribs. When we feed them chicken, Louis does not even bother to come get it as Ella always beats him to it and hisses at him if he even looks her way. They always come up to the fence to say hello, and are still very nice when we go in to clean their water trough and take the poo out. Today there was an adult giraffe eating right next to their enclosure and Ella kept pacing the fence, trying to stalk the giraffe. Louis is losing his excess baggage weight and he is now about the size of a Labrador but with a massive neck and head. Very impressive.
OCTOBER:
25TH: Both leopards are looking beautiful (as always), and the diet plan appears to be working. Yesterday we fed them chicken and Ella didn’t let Louis have any at first, she looked (and sounded) like she wanted to eat all of it! Perhaps Louis had taken her rib from the previous feed and she wasn’t letting him near her dinner again. Both are very nice when we go in to say hello and clean their enclosure out, and Ella still squeaks away which is really cute.
18TH: Even though they have been on a diet plan for about 4 weeks now and we have seen no change in fat Lewie’s appearance. Ella is looking ravishing as ever and is picking up weight which is a good thing.She still squeaks while we feed and loves to come up to the fence for attention. Today they even allowed two new volunteers to come in with Delano, Tamz, and myself to clean the water trough.
11TH: Both Louis and Ella are eating well. We have been feeding them a few days in a row then having a day off, and also giving them slightly smaller portions of food. Both are getting much bigger and are being super sweet to us.
1 SEPTEMBER: Leopards are getting so much bigger. They still get chicken one day, meat the next – and every other morning chicken giblets. Their enclosure is being raked and cleaned twice a week, which is basically “play time” for them when they try to get a hold of the rakes and brushes! They are still good babies though, but much more playful. Ella has become so friendly. Louis is the naughty one! They’ll be a year old in September. We would have had them for just under 8 months. They are not as shy any more and spend most of their days outside playing around and enjoying the sun. They are both very friendly from the outside of the enclosure, and when you go in- depending on their mood.
12 AUGUST:
Louis and Ella have grown such a lot since we got them are looking really impressive now they are also not as shy as what they were and showing themselves much more to the public now. Louis has really become a very big boy. We still go in with them but we do have to watch our backs as they are very playfull but still nice.
JANUARY: The newest addition to the park are two 18-week-old leopard cubs. One male and one female, the male is a couple of days older than the female. We’ve called them Louis and Ella.
