A massive male lion found a leopard’s impala meal up a tree and thought it would be an easy snatch. But this impala, even though dead, still put up a fight!
A recent sighting in the Greater Kruger, had 30-year old Field Guide, Benjamin Scheepers and his guests sitting on the edge of their seats. Never before in his 13 years of guiding has he seen anything like this. A lion climbs a tree to steal a Leopard’s kill and then ends up having to share his meal with his brother!
“On a morning safari, we had stopped for some coffee and saw a mass of vultures circling an area nearby. My guests and I decided to go investigate. After entering the area, we found nothing until a Male Lion showed up and started sniffing around. This in itself was already a major win for us, as I had not yet been able to show my guests a male lion.”
“The next thing we knew, this male started trotting towards a tree and actually started climbing! My heart rose and I was in absolute shock. I repositioned the vehicle for everyone to have the best view. Unfortunately, I had missed the opportunity to get photos of the climbing.”
“Before we knew it, he was in the tree and had managed to get a Leopard’s, Impala kill. When he carefully came down, his brother moved in to get a piece of the kill. Of course, this gave off somewhat of a rumpus, but after a quick game of tug-a-war, both lions had a quick snack and went to take a nap in the shade.”
“There was no leopard around at the time and expectedly did not return.” This was fortunate, as the one advantage for Leopards is to hoist their food at an elevated level. This assists in avoiding the competition from stealing their prey. Generally, Lions are not known to be avid climbers, as their size and weight does not always allow them. But this again is just an amazing example of how Mother Nature does not follow the rule of thumb.
“I honestly did not know when to take photos and when to take videos and when to simply just appreciate what we had been fortunate enough to experience. This has by far been one of my most memorable sightings. I have never witnessed anything like it and will surely remember this for the rest of my life.”
Among carnivores, perhaps the big cat relatives are predators that are both attractive and powerful.
The group of big cats consists of 5 members, ranked by size and body weight, respectively: tigers, lions, jaguars, leopards and snow leopards.
Both are predatory animals and live in the same area of Africa, so lions and leopards are hard to avoid clashes.
In general comparison, leopards have never been seen as rivals by lions, except in direct competition for food.
Leopards are quite modest in size, about 2 meters long and weigh from 30 – 90 kg when mature, but are famous for their unique camouflage skills, toughness and ability to climb.
A leopard at a healthy age can run more than 60 km/h, leap more than 6 m horizontally and jump 3 m high, can dive down on prey from a tree branch.
According to statistics, leopards have the highest success rate of hunting among big cats, so it is understandable that lions do not like leopards.
The lion, the lord of the jungle, not only has a reputation as a fearsome hunter, but also a powerful man, having the “right to kill” other predators. Along with the built-in hatred in people, if the leopard loses its vigilance, it may have to receive a punishment from the lion at any time.
Matthew Poole, a tour guide, happened to film the interesting scene at Kirkman camp at Sabi Sands Animal Sanctuary, South Africa.
Accordingly, a leopard resting on a cliff was caught in the sights of an old male lion.
The leopard seemed to have just eaten, so it was completely absent-minded, just wanted to lie down in a corner to sleep soundly.
Stalking for a long time from the other side of the Sand River, noticing that the leopard lost its senses, the lion slowly walked closer to the subject.
At this time, the leopard was still sleeping soundly, unaware of the growing danger. When he was close enough, the lion decided to take action.
With all its strength and flexibility, the lion galloped straight up the vortex to attack its prey. However, it seems that the slope is too high and relatively slippery, causing the lion to lose its rhythm.
The lion’s mistake accidentally woke the leopard up. Realizing that it was attacked by someone else, it awoke from its sleep, unleashed a threat and flew away like the wind.