Leopards of Sabi Sands

[Tshokwane]

Credits to Andrew Danckwerts - MalaMala.

The male mentioned is Kunyuma.

MALAMALA TODAY: May 17th. Leopard cubs, Cape hunting dogs and 2 near death experiences. If cats do have 9 lives then the Senegal Bush male leopard used up one of his this evening... He was initially seen in front of Sable Camp early this morning but things got interesting during the afternoon drive when we found him feeding on a nyala bull kill in the lower reaches of the Manyeleti River. By nightfall he’d been joined by a hyena and it wasn’t long before they both got some uninvited company. 4 lionesses from the Kambula pride had gotten wind of the kill and came jogging in from the east. 

The Senegal Bush male noticed them making their approach but he didn’t seem as panic-stricken as he perhaps should’ve. One of the lionesses latched onto the hyena whilst the leopard made a half-hearted getaway up the banks of the river. Bizarrely he then stopped, turned around and tried to sneak back towards the kill. A second lioness set her sights on him and gave chase! He scampered up a tree but didn’t get high enough before the lioness grabbed him and pulled him to the ground. A ferocious scuffle ensued as the lioness tore into him. 

We feared the worst. But, somehow the Senegal Bush male managed to escape and scampered up another tree to safety. The hyena miraculously got away as well but both will be licking some nasty wounds for a while.

I thought interesting one of the comments by M.J Bradley, another ranger:

When Senegal Bush was a youngster, he tried to sneak up on Male Lions who had a kill luckily for him he was not hurt! We saw this on one of the live drives on Djuma. So that makes 2 of his lives used, that we know of.

*This image is copyright of its original author

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