'Actually I'd rather have dinner': SA leopard abandons mate to snatch impala
Tourists on a game drive in northern South Africa have filmed what’s been described as a “once-in-a-lifetime sighting”: a male leopard, preparing to mate, quickly changes his mind and catches dinner instead.
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The incident occurred on the night of July 26 in the western section of the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, near the Kruger National Park. In a video clip filmed by one of the guests the leopards are seen preparing to mate when both animals are suddenly distracted by a sound coming towards them.
All thought of sex is quickly abandoned as the male leopard, sensing a kill, gets ready to pounce before a young impala ram explodes into their love nest. The male leopard instantly takes down the startled animal. Then, with the antelope dangling from his mouth, he clambers up a nearby tree while his would-be lover dashes off into the darkness.
“I've always known how agile a leopard is,” said Fred Smith, a guide from Dulini Private Game Reserve who was with guests who filmed the kill.
“I've seen them perform some amazing acrobatics: catching birds and other antelope, lunging in and out of trees and across rivers and rocks. They truly are amazing cats.”
Disturbed by hyenas
The impala, which was still alive for a few moments after it was carried up into the tree, was probably flushed by hyenas on the prowl, said Smith.
“We left the sighting with both the leopards up two different trees and hyenas running around the bottom,” he said.
Leopards are shy and elusive and rarely seen. But the Sabi Sand Game Reserve is known for some of the best leopard viewing in Africa, said Smith. The animals have also grown used to the presence of safari vehicles.
“It has taken years of hard work getting them this relaxed and comfortable to carry on with their natural behavior while we are watching nearby,” he explained.
The guide, who has been in the safari business for 12 years, described this sighting as one of the highlights of his career.
“I doubt I will ever see anything like it. It ranks high in the top five sightings I've ever had.”
Right place, right time
Vincent Naude, a post-doctoral researcher with the Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa, told RFI: “Leopards are incredibly opportunistic hunters, I mean, who wouldn’t be if dinner ran straight into you?”
He said from watching the video clip it was clear that several factors were at play, including the skittishness of impalas at night when predators are around, and the fact that leopards conduct their courtship over several days, meaning the two feline lovers could “get right back to it after dinner.”
“These variables, in conjunction with the busy light and sounds of game viewing, likely led to an incredible case of ‘right-place-right-time’ for this leopard,” he said.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists leopards as vulnerable to extinction due to their declining numbers in the wild.
A study published last year and co-authored by Naude said some leopard populations in South Africa were at risk from inbreeding due to over-hunting in the past, and the inability of male leopards to disperse far from their birth places in a landscape fragmented by human development.
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