SUNDARI: The Leopard in My Lap

by Rocky Davis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 9, 1974

Rocky Davis had always loved animals, so when husband Bob, a soil specialist with the Dept. of Agriculture, was sent to Delhi, what could be more natural than acquiring a pet leopard? True, the zoo officials and every feline expert for miles around warned that the big cats were unpredictable, untrustworthy and dangerous. One day the cuddly, little leopard cub who suckled Rocky's fingers and romped with her children would turn to a snarling killer. Oh, yeah? The cub did grow -- by leaps and bounds as it were; the Davis' furniture was wrecked, clothes torn, crockery smashed, servants and children ambushed and sent toppling head over heels, but Sundari, ""The Beautiful One,"" was just playing. Defying all ""scientific"" opinion, Sundari remained loyal, lovable, coquettish -- and just slightly cowardly. Mrs. Davis gushes over her intelligence, charm, beauty and agility like any proud mother. From a ""wee blob"" she grew to a sleek, sixty-pounder who ate cheese and popsicles with special gusto and slept in the Davis' bed tucked in between husband and wife (""we each had our three inches and she had her three feet""), till that inevitable, traumatic day when Sundari had to be weaned from home and family and returned to the zoo. Animal fanciers will find the pleasure of her company and her teasing, madcap antics worth that final wrench -- however cloying it might appear to others.

Pub Date: Feb. 9, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1974

Categories: NONFICTION