You're crouched in the African brush, camera at the ready.

You're waiting on one of nature's loners. It's dark. It's scary. Then silently, he appears; the ever-elusive leopard.

You have seconds to capture on film this wonder of the wild, with its exotic spotted fur, so prized by hunters Beverly and Dereck Joubert are National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence, film-makers, researchers, authors, and photographers who have worked in the field in Africa for 30 years.

They are experts in big cats and have just spent five years working with leopards in Botswana.

They have earned five Emmys and a Peabody for their film work and were recently honoured with the World Ecology Award from the University of Missouri.

They have written and photographed six books and many articles for National Geographic Magazine.

The Jouberts feel that their achievements are a result of their being able to live permanently in the bush and get close to wildlife , face to face.