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Leopard Predation Thread
Leopard Predation Thread
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Leopard Predation Thread
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Credits to Rob the Ranger.
Torchwood male with warthog kill.  *This image is copyright of its original author
  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Leopard vs Baboon...
03rd August 2012 The relationship between leopards and baboons is a complex game of threat and fear. Baboons certainly feature highly on leopards' menus, and leopards in the Luangwa are well known for being expert primate hunters. But baboons are very strong and highly social, so leopards, which are solitary hunters, must balance the risk of getting injured in the process. I watched some very interesting interactions between these two species last week after we came across the body of an injured baboon just off the road. The baboon was bleeding badly and had clearly been attacked (rather than having fallen from a tree as I have seen once before). The rest of the troop were all around, calling intermittently to each other and giving the more general wa-hoo alarm call at regular intervals. Some were still up on termite mounds keeping watch and this all led us to think that a predator had been in the area very recently.  *This image is copyright of its original author We watched for a long time, eventually moving to the shade of some trees nearby. Soon after a leopard cub crossed in front of me, heading in the direction of the baboon, but quickly taking cover in more thicket. This confirmed the situation - the female leopard who lives in that area must have been hunting baboons (or was mobbed while with her cubs?) and had inflicted the injuries on the baboon. We turned our attention to the baboon which was still alive and struggling in the sun. We suspected that the leopard would return to claim her prize, but there were still a large number of baboons around, some 'guarding' their colleague closely. After a long time, the leopard appeared, and the baboons began to go wild, barking frantically and trying to warn their injured friend. Amazingly, the victim was still able to get up weakly and began to move towards the rest of the troop, even though he had been lying in the sun for over 2 hours.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author But the leopard was fast and she caught up with the baboon and took it by the scruff of the neck. As she turned to carry it back to the bush where she had been hiding (with her cubs) the baboons surrounded her, coming as close as they dared. (I didn't manage to photograph these moments, as I was moving the vehicle out from behind a bush to get a better view.)  *This image is copyright of its original author At one point, one of the baboons grabbed the leopard by her tail and she dropped the baboon. She spun around, and the baboons backed off, perhaps remembering the damage that the cat had inflicted on their friend.  *This image is copyright of its original author Eventually, she made it back to the bush and the baboons moved away slowly. It was certainly interesting to watch the interaction between the two species - neither one dominant or entirely submissive to the other. Events like this are very unusual and to watch it played out in full daylight was a wonderful experience. There's an amazing video of this event, taken by one of our guests here. http://www.edwardselfephotography.com/leopard-vs-baboon  *This image is copyright of its original author We reported last month that the guides suspected that Slender, the resident female leopard around Kings Pool, might be nursing a cub. And as announced on the Wilderness Safaris Facebook page – she has not just one cub, BUT TWO! She first kept them in the hollow of a jackalberry tree, not far from camp. She then moved them further south into the thick mopane woodland for safety. She’s been seen hunting on a few occasions, including successfully taking down baboons – on one morning they witnessed her killing two! She was also seen sharing one of these baboon kills with a male leopard – a big but quite shy male, suspected to be the father of the two cubs. They should be about a month old by now. Another female leopard, named the Calcrete Female, was also seen hunting – what a remarkable sighting it was! One of our guides, Moses, and his guests were lucky enough to see the entire kill – from her stalking a large troop of baboons, setting her eyes on a big male and starting the chase, and then finally killing him, dragging him quite a distance and then pulling him up into a tree – a performance of incredible strength, the size of the male baboon almost being the same as this female leopard! http://www.wilderness-safaris.com/blog/posts/kings-pool-camp-june-2015
Photo and information credits: Edward Peach Photography
"Guiding guests from Canada who had enjoyed some of the best sightings I've had in the Pilanesberg, we looked for the only thing they had not seen on their trip yet, a leopard. After a good sighting of a black rhino we went on search for the last of the big 5. Tracking the leopard tracks around safara and and half way down Nare we saw a herd of wildebeest scatter, not thinking a leopard would be involved but interested to see what was going on we ambled on to have a look. Through the dip of the river crossing we could hear a leopard and starting searching anything. We snuck slowly forward scanning around the trees up and down the river, and stumbled across this magnificent male leopard"  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to Rob the Ranger.
An incredible sighting of the Torchwood male leopard killing a screaming warthog next to our vehicle! Male leopards seem to prefer preying on warthogs and can often be spotted near a warthog burrow. In this case we spotted the Torchwood male leopard sitting on top of a termitarium well known for warthog activity, as we approached the spot a family of warthog burst from cover before the cameras were even ready! Torchwood male leopard is a skilled warthog hunter and you can see how he subdues the warthog by severing the brachial artery in the axial area of the front leg staying away from the dangerous warthog tusks. The sighting is graphic at this point as the leopard kills the screaming warthog. The warthog did not take long to bleed out leaving the leopard time to clean up from the safe vantage point of the termitarium. The sealing of the warthog could have attracted the attention of other predators so moving to a good vantage point was a wise safety move on the leopards part. Later we returned to find the leopard having a drink at a nearby waterhole, watched by giraffe and hippo. After quenching his thirst the leopard retrned to his warthog kill and started to feed. The leopard seemed reluctant to move the warthog carcass to the safety of a tree and eventually later at nighttime a hyena stole the warthog from the leopard and ran off with it.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Other shot related to the reply #134, from Pilanesberg NP.
Photo and information credits: Edward Peach Photography "Leopard on a wildebeest kill on the road... Cant ask for much more!"  *This image is copyright of its original author
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