Like in the movie Sheena, the queen of the jungle in which a young woman, Tanya Roberts, lives and communicates with wild animals, a young man from Kenya entered the history books when he stayed in the wildness with a leopard for  two and half years, defining its every move and relationship with other wild animals.

 The 29 months in the wilderness saw the young man’s relationship with human beings suffer tremendously as he believed they were uncaring compared to wild animals. The stay also taught him how to cure diseases on wild herbs, communicate with the leopard and live safely with other ruthless wild animals, which had come to view him as one of their own in the habitat.

But this was one thing Martin Wambua never considered would happen to him. Feeding young Bush Buck at David Shedricks Wildlife Trust was a job he knew he would do without hesitation; but living with a leopard in the forest, feeding and protecting it for close to three years, is something he never contemplated.

It all started in the morning of September 2002 while working as an animal handler at the Trust when his boss approached him with an offer of staying in the wild with a young leopard, taking care of it. He promised Wambua a good reward if he managed to do three things: protect, feed and integrate the leopard in the wilderness among fellow leopards.

While he did not know why the boss wanted him to do so, he just needed a job and some good pay. In addition to receiving Ksh 7, 500 as his monthly payment, his boss had also promised him good benefits at the end of the stay in the wilderness with the leopard.

It was going to be a treacherous assignment, but Wambua knew with the pay, he was going to educate his two sibling-brother and sister- who were under his custody after the death of their parents.

So in November of the same year, he prepared, bid farewell to his family members and set-off to Ithumba, Tsavo East with food, a cooling box, and with two cages-one for him and the other for the young leopard.

He was then dropped off deep inside the forest with food rations to last him and the leopard for at least three weeks, before the next replenishment. The cooling box was to keep the meat fresh, since the leopard refused to eat any rotting stuff.

“The first one week was very difficult for me since I had to spend in the forest with wild animals around me, defending the leopard from any attacks,” recalls Wambua, who hails from Kitui West.

With neither a weapon nor communication gadget to protect himself from vicious wild animals, Wambua had to learn the skills of surviving in the jungle.

Befriending the leopard, knowing its likes and dislikes, and learning to differentiate it from other leopards, and the techniques of keeping at bay wild animals that would attack it, were the first things he had to master.  

Knowing the territory of other wild animals was equally important to avoid getting into trouble with them. The next thing was to ensure the leopard knew it was called Tito, the name they had given him.

“The name became important because I could use it whenever I sensed danger or if it was time to teach him certain skills,” says Wambua.

“When a leopard of his age passed by, he was the only one who responded when I called Tito. This helped me avoid confusing him with other unfriendly leopards.”

The type of clothes he wore determined whether he would avoid attacks and death from Tito and other wild animals.

Tito knew two specific shirts and trousers Wambua used to wear. And if he wore those which were unfamiliar, an attack would ensue as he would confuse him with an enemy. Thus to live peacefully, Wambua was forced to put on one shirt and a trouser even for a week.

“This was important because the leopard would come out from wherever it was and give me a friendly maul, when it sported these clothes. Other animals too knew this was one of us whenever they saw my outfits.”

Those who occasionally brought him and the leopard food and water were also safe if Wambua was wearing the shirts and trousers the leopard and other animals in the jungle knew. 

But as his stay in the wild seemed to be moving on smoothly, his other life was slowly being affected. His bond with human beings suffered a great deal. A life without a radio or access to any literature such as the newspapers, had made him lose touch with the outside world.

He had changed a lot and many things happened without his knowledge. He knew things were not good when, after four months in the wilderness, he decided to visit his relatives.

“The first time I came out of the wilderness, I was withdrawn and rarely talked to people. I had started feeling more at home with the animals,” says Wambua.

Now 29-years-old, he remembers getting angry at everyone and his family and friends started complaining about his weird behaviour. Yet, such feelings he had about human beings were rare when he was with the wild animals.

“I realized the longtime I was spending in the wild had not only begun affecting my relationship with my fellow mortals; but also leaving me ignorant about current affairs.”

Although in Kenya, he knew about major happenings once the incidents had long passed. The death of former Vice-President, Michael Kijana Wamalwa and Karissa Maitha, are some of the events he came to know after three months.

Nevertheless, every time he came out of the wilderness after three or four months, he stayed for only two days with his family and friends before going back home- to the wilderness.

With his friend Tito, he felt a sense of belonging and respect. Save for only one occasion when the leopard attacked him in December 2002, Wambua says Tito and other wild animals were his best friends.

“The attack by Tito left me badly injured and scared. However after healing, I became very keen in understanding him better,” says Wambua.

Appreciating the leopard’s changing moods and postures, were things he had to know with minute details. Every morning, he had to observe the leopard before starting any interactions. “Knowing its mood, especially at feeding times, was very important,” says Wambua.

The leopard knew the ration of food it was supposed to eat everyday, and when Wambua gave it food that seemed to be smaller in amount, it could sulk and refuse to eat. If nothing happened in terms of increasing the portion, Tito would then turn away from the food and start looking at Wambua menacingly.

Every morning and evening, Tito was entitled to at least one kilogram of meat, and anything less than this used to infuriate him very much. But Wambua says he was just being economical when they did not get their replishment and had to go for five days without enough food.

“Tito believed that I was eating part of his food, thus the smaller portions he was getting. The strategy was to get away from him and come only after his tempers had cooled,” says Wambua.

In fact, when the leopard showed any signs of being annoyed, Wambua had to keep away lest it attacked him.

“These were the wars I had to fight regularly especially when the food rations were running out and I had to reduce the amount until the next replenishment.”

After Titos morning tantrums, friendship would then be restored, paving way for Wambua to communicate with the leopard about what they were going to do for the day. Tito would listen intently, after which they would go into the forest for real time business. “This was the toughest time for me,” recalls Wambua.

Outside the cage, Wambua would follow the leopard behind quietly to ensure it was not attacked by other wild animals. And whenever this happened, Tito made a particular noise of distress and expected Wambua to rush and protect him.

“If I failed to defend him, say from other older leopards, hyenas or monkeys, he would sulk and refuse to communicate to me even for two days.”

Such trips with the leopard were also used to teach it how to fend for itself, to choose its prey and when to attack. Since Tito feared going after its prey, it had to wait for Wambua to take the lead, before it dashed menacingly at it.

“I had to behave like an animal which is hunting for a meal. And the leopard would follow my motions to tell when it was right time to strike,” says Wambua.

Killing of the prey brought a lot of happiness to Tito, for it knew there was more food ration for that day. But it was also time for Wambua to teach him how to eat the meat like other wild leopards.

“I threw the meat on a tree branch to school Tito on the techniques of feeding safely on top of a tree after hunting.”

Besides hunting, they went through swimming lessons on how to cross huge pools of water when under attack or having good time.

As the leopard came to appreciate Wambua as a parent, so did it come to learn his way of life and moods. When he was angry, Tito would come out of the bush and playfully claw him. If he did not respond with a smile, the leopard went into hiding until when he felt Wambua was a happy man. Using such understanding, they avoided colliding with each other.

The leopard also learnt every gesture and words Wambua made, especially during danger times. “When I made a particular noise and shouted lets go, it knew things were not good and immediately responded by dashing in front of me.”

Conversely, the leopard too warned him of any imminent danger if it sensed they were about to be attacked.

However, even as they managed to develop such a strong bond and get this far in the wild without major problems, Wambua’s time of reckoning was yet to come. After six months in the wild, it started raining heavily. All his beddings were socked, forcing him to spend several nights just standing or sitting.

“At one point I feared I was going to die. Even the leopard seemed to sympathize with me and it could get sad whenever I was sad.”

Other wild animals were too becoming uncomfortable with the heavy rains. Some, like the snake, decided to seek warmth somewhere else-in Wambua beddings.

“One night I woke up to find a huge cobra sleeping besides me. It refused to leave the cage and spit saliva at me whenever I tried to kill it,” says Wambua. He only managed to exterminate the creature after 12 hours of hard fight.

The next trouble came from Tito. While in the past the leopard had not tried to venture far from where he was, this time around it started disappearing even for two day, leaving Wambua searching every where and spending sleeplessness nights fearing the worst might have happened to it.

And when Tito reappeared, he looked happy, but with a lot of guilt and shyness. Wambua later discovered it was mating time for leopards and that was why his friend was disappearing regularly.

“When he re-emerged from a mating a trip, Tito avoided our eyes meeting, believing I knew what he had gone to do. Only after two days did he start gaining the confidence to approach me again.”

This was the time Wambua realized Tito was becoming a real male, and started teaching him how to define his territory and protect it from other competitors. He passed what he watched other leopards do to his friend Tito.

“You have to be tough and start protecting and hunting for yourself, I used tell Tito,” Wambua says.

His hard work started paying off when Tito would go out and hunt without his help.

“Slowly, Tito started doing everything own his own. I felt the time to move on was ripe and departed from the forest back to live with my fellow human beings.”

It was not going to be easy after living with wild animals for such a long time. While it took him several months and with difficulties to integrate back into the society, he succeeded. Still, even after making such sacrifices, Wambua does not know why his boss asked him to stay in the wilderness for two and half years.

His love for the leopard however remains steadfast. He wonders if he could see Tito again just to know how he is doing.

“Perhaps now he is a big leopard having fathered many other leopards and with female leopards he can refer to as his wives. He is still fresh in my mind as better friend than even human beings,” Wambua says with a forlorn look.

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