Hariton, the Leopard, hiding in the bushes
The leopard who came to visit
Ein Gedi kibbutz members are being paid nightly visits by a local leopard that satisfies its appetite on a menu of cats and dogs
Members of Kibbutz Ein Gedi located on the western shore of the Dead Sea, close to Masada and the caves of Qumran have recently been forced to live alongside a new member, he's not all that friendly but he's been pretty quiet so far.
During the past few weeks Hariton, the Leopard, as he has been named by kibbutz members, has been roaming along the kibbutz fence on a nightly basis. Once in a while he ventures inside one of the gardens and if a cat or a dog happen to be around he quickly and skillfully devours them.
So far he hasn't attacked any kibbutz members. On the contrary. Kibbutz spokeswoman, Meirav Ayalon, met up with him a few days ago when taking her two dogs for a walk. Hariton, who doesn't particularly like being exposed, bowed his head and took off among the bushes.
A week earlier, a park ranger suddenly felt his hand touching something soft and trembling which turned out to be Hariton's tail. Hariton just looked at the ranger and went on his way non-perturbed.
However, several kibbutz members fear the leopard will change his appetite and go for something new. This apprehension worsened Thursday, when the leopard made a scary visit to the Kibbutz that only miraculously ended without injury.
'Calm and not harmful'
Kibbutz member Yoram Tzuri, known as Charley, woke up at 5 am Thursday morning to the sound of his dog's loud barking. Charley put on his glasses, switched on the light, opened the door and went out. Right in font of him he saw his dog quivering in the Lapboard's mouth while the dog continued barking incessantly. When Hariton noticed Charley he let out an ear-piercing roar. As he did so, the poor dog freed itself from the leopard's jaws and ran for its life away from the hungry beast."As he was just a few yards away from me, I was indeed afraid and so I ran inside to pick up my gun," Charley said. "But when I ventured outside again the leopard was gone."
The head of the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve Dori Greenbaum, said over the weekend that the kibbutz should have repaired the electronic fence the nature reserve put up around the kibbutz, otherwise Hariton will continue paying its members regular visits."
The kibbutz spokeswoman said putting up an electronic fence was expensive and that the kibbutz doesn't have the financial resources to cover the cost. "Nonetheless," she calmed other members "Hariton is calm and not harmful if he is not disturbed. What I fear most is that someone may hurt the leopard, and it is a valuable animal."
