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Rich Laburn

Head of Digital

Rich is the driving force behind Londolozi’s online storytelling and the founder of the Londolozi blog. His passions of digital media, film and photography have seen him build Londolozi's online ecosystem into a unique platform for advocacy of the restoration and rewilding of ...

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17 Comments

on The Revenge of the Maxabeni Brothers

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I think it is even more amazing that the two brothers are operating together….probably due to the age factor…. I’ve always considered leopards to be almost strictly solitary…. Overall I am not totally surprised at the leopards killing the hyena…. This is not the first time I’ve come across such…. If spotted hyenas were solitary, I think that leopards will rank higher in the predator dominance… On a one on one basis, the leopard is a truly formidable adversry “pound for pound”….

Very true Patrick, it is both amazing that these two brothers are still operating together as it is that true that one on one the leopard is a formidable adversary. I believe that these two leopards are working together as neither of them has been forced out of their mother’s territory. Once this happens, more than likely in the next six months, I am sure these males will split up. They may move together for a while, however ultimately leopards are solitary creatures and it is highly improbable that they will be together.

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In Djuma, we have been seeing some very unusual leopard behavior. On several occasions, mom Karula, her two current cubs, their dad, and an older cub who is now independent were all together. We’ve seen an independent young male cub with his dad, with a kill in a tree, and quite content to be there together. Many other instances come to mind. Perhaps, with the increase in prey species, new behaviors are beginning to be seen and the interaction with this hyena and two older brothers is a part of that
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How much can grow in size leopards after 24 months?
Other reasons that contributed to this rare and isolated event between the two brothers and the hyena occurring could be an escalation in competition between hyenas and these two males leopard.
One day one of them could prey on an adult lone hyena?

A leopard can grow up to around 70 kilograms (if not more) in 24 months. I think that your reasoning for this rare event is correct. The escalation in competition is immense between these predators and the chance the inflict some dominance over a young hyena was too much for these two leopards.

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I also think they were asserting themselves as mature leopards. An amazing clip! Thank you very much for sharing this.

Agreed Christa, glad that you enjoyed the clip from John and Linda

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So much for the Maxbeni young males “playing nice” with hyena.

http://www.pbase.com/mytmoss/hyena_and_leopard

Here was my encounter in September. Great stuff from both John and Linda.

Mike

Thanks Mike for your pics, I think we are going to see these two young males playing nice less and less as they get older. However they are going to be in for a rude shock when the territorial male starts to assert his dominance…

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A question nobody has asked, to my surprise is…how big was the hyena? It wasn’t an adult was it?

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Morty, if you read the blog it states that the hyena was small.

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Amazing footage…. Thats a baby or a very young Hiena. Pound for pound Hiena wins…

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I just found this today by chance and I am truly fascinated!!! Unreal footage and something that I really didn’t expect. The haunting sounds of the hyena are really quite disturbing but I guess that is the nature of the wild – be prepared for the unexpected.

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this might sound stupid but i almos feel sorry for the hyeana. the noises he was making

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With the change in ecosystems, I assume that the inhabitants of that ecosystem go under a change too. It is one thing to theoretically talk about it and totally another to view it in a video. It is still a surprise for me to come to know about this unique interaction. Thanks for sharing the video and the post.

Certainly appreciated both the dramatic footage along with the interesting background story. My personal reaction is that the two brothers willingly teamed up for this kill since they both were still living as a family group and hadn’t been expelled by their mother as yet. In due time and with separate independence, this would not have occurred. Poor young hyena cries were truly desperate. But such is the wild … one day you win … another day you lose.

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