An unusual sighting of a male leopard on the remains of a Porcupine provided some entertaining viewing at Londolozi Game Reserve.
A few days ago the Maxabeni 3:2 Young Male was found sleeping next to the remains of a recently killed Porcupine. We are not sure if he killed it though as there was another younger male leopard about 100 meters away from the scene. Is it possible that the four year old ‘pink-nosed’ Maxabeni Male stole this prickly kill from the younger male?
He did however, have a number of quills embedded in his neck and throat area which does suggest that he was involved whilst the Porcupine was alive and still putting up a fight!
Very carefully he dragged the carcass out of the mid day sunshine and into the depths of a very thick and lush drainage line. Here he managed to cautiously pluck the Porcupine. First he fed through the head, after which he turned the rodent onto it’s back and fed from the belly.
Even though the light was difficult it was still a wonderful sighting, unusual and very pleasing on the eye. The dark tones of green, combined with the rich gold, rosettes and then the contrasting black and white stripes.
After he had finished his prize he moved off and embedded himself for the entire next day in a dense shrub. At this stage he still had a handful of quills protruding out his body. The following day, however, the quills were gone and he was found happily lazing about in the branches of a Marula tree
At four years of age this male is really starting to not only resemble his father, but to shows signs that he will grow into a very large individual. We hope he stays around so that we can all continue to monitor his growth and development. A special leopard and an fascinating member of the Leopards of Londolozi
Written and photographed by Adam Bannister
Looks like leopard’s are more successful in encounters with porcupines than my dogs! Great pictures! Beautiful animal!
Join the club, Sam: last summer my two Labrador retrievers chased a porcupine AND a skunk on the same day. Such a mess… Here in Canada only pine marten (”fishers”) and wolverines can kill a porcupine sliding their heads under its belly and opening it with their claws. This leopard is very clever. What a magnificent animal. Beautiful pictures, Adam. Looking forward to visit Londolozi next year to see all this in real life.
I hope he doesn’t get an infection from the quills. He’s beautiful.
Great pics of one of my favorite leopards. Glad he was able to lose the quills.
Magnificent male munching on a meal–awesome!
How does a leopard get rid of porcupine quills by himself??
wow, what a wonderful images, guests are experiencing africa indeed, well done.