Wildlife photographer Hannes Lochner spent 750 days in the
harsh surroundings of the Kalahari Desert to
chronicle the life of a female leopard and in doing so delved into a dark and
fascinating nocturnal world of big cats and other predators.
Through his incredible project, Mr Lochner, 41, documented
the struggle of Luna the leopard to raise cubs in one of the most punishing
environments on earth, where big predators become more active at night, and
when the photographer's visibility is severely diminished.
He also captured some stunning and often comical pictures of
other creatures, bug and small, including colourful lizards and a pair of
quizzical-looking owls.
He travelled a colossal 100,000km during his time at the Kgalagadi TransfrontierPark in South Africa
Shooting mostly at night, the Cape Town-born photographer
had to brave: night-time temperatures of -13 in the winter, while trying to
catch up on his sleep in sweltering 40C heat in the day.
There was a female leopard, named Luna, which had to protect
her cubs from the park's lions, cheetah, spotted hyenas, brown hyenas and
jackals, all of whom will kill cubs on sight.
The leopardess had three litters during the two years and
three months she was trailed by Lochner. Her middle two cubs were killed by a
brown hyena, but she later gave birth to another two which survived.
Also, unusually for leopards, she was regularly joined by
'family man' Oscar, the father of all three litters.
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