Leopards of Sabi Sands

[Tshokwane]

Credits to MalaMala.

The Inyathini male came within a hair’s breadth of meeting a similar demise to that of the late Treehouse male and Kikilezi female! We were following him as he walked north along the eastern bank of the Sand River near Maxim’s Lookout when a troop of baboons spotted him. Leopards are secretive by nature and prefer to move undetected - this doesn’t bode well when raucous and irate primates are revealing your position to the world. He immediately ducked behind a shrub to get out of eye-shot. The Inyathini male then utilized our Land Rovers for cover as he slunk across open the riverbed and into the reeds. Mission accomplished. Or so he thought... He’d done well to lose the baboons but the point where he’d chosen to ascend the opposite bank was exactly where a lioness from the Kambula pride is denning, and she was waiting for him. The lioness erupted out of a bush as she leapt towards the leopard and came within a whisker of her target. Luckily for the Inyathini male his sharp reflexes got him out of harms way.

*This image is copyright of its original author

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