A few weeks ago, my ranger, Chris Goodman and I heard over the radio of a leopard with a kill. We talked about going to see it, but the sighting was closed down because the kill was still on the ground and they were hoping it would be hoisted to a tree. We decided to try first thing in the next morning to see it.
So early the following morning, we found the Camp Pan 4:3 male sitting in a tree munching on a wildebeest. To our surprise, we also found his 3 year old son, the Maxabene 3:2 young male sitting on the ground below, hoping for scraps. Within about 15 minutes, a leg fell from the tree and the young male had something to eat.
About 10-15 minutes later, Chris noticed another leopard approaching. The Vomba 3:2 female was seemingly stalking the young male. She got close and the male was oblivious to her approach. She made a quick attempt to steal the leg, but failed. She then also sat around for a short while waiting to see if more food would fall.
She left and shortly thereafter a large female hyena showed up. The young male made an attempt to climb the tree, but his father indicated in no uncertain terms that his presence in the same tree was not welcome. As the young male descended the tree, the leg he was carrying dropped and the hyena quickly grabbed it.
Maxabene 3:2 Young Male snarling at hyena - Michael Moss
The hyena quickly finished off the leg and also decided to wait for more scraps. It was quite interesting to see both the hyena and leopard within meters of each other for most part completely ignoring the other. A few times the male leopard hissed at the hyena, but he just laid there looking up for food (as was the hyena).
The Camp Pan male then decided he was done with the remaining leg he had and started to descend the tree. He could see the hyena waiting at the bottom of the tree. Just before he made his final jump down, he opened his mouth and released the leg. The hyena quickly grabbed it and scurried off. It seemed that he did the release just to have the hyena not bother him as he jumped off the tree and that is exactly what happened.
The young Mxabene male then climbed the tree looking for food, finding none he descended and left the sighting and the adventure was over.
Maxabene 3:2 Young Male climbing tree - Michael Moss
To see three Leopards of Londolozi and a hyena interact was an amazing experience. Thank you Londolozi and Chris!
Written, Filmed and Photographed by: Michael Moss (Londolozi Guest)
Michael, great to see your trip was such a success! Apologies for not getting back in time to catch up!
Thank You for posting such a cool story. The interaction you describe was outlandish. The Hyena and Leopard son waiting in such close quarters for scraps! Thanks again. I really appreciate the writeup and videos!
Absolute pleasure Luke, all credit goes to Michael Moss who captured the incident on film and photograph as well as the ranger, Chris Goodman. Keep posted as there will be lots more stories to come.