Often touted as the most adaptable (and adept for that matter) predator, leopards are found from the mountains surrounding Cape Town, to Kalahari deserts, the thick mountainous forests of central Africa, grasslands and savannahs of east Africa and of course the Lowveld of Southern African (and everything in between). Here in the heart of the densest ever recorded leopard population, Londolozi showcases these elusive, yet absolutely breathtaking big cats on a daily basis. A privilege we as guides marvel at every day.
He is a large, tall, and long male that has an incredible coat and a tuft of hair on his neck
I have always described a Leopard as the perfect balance: raw power and elegant beauty, in equal measures. The ultimate predator, with more than its fair share of spiritual wisdom and mystique.
“Gentle hunter, his tail plays on the ground while he crushes the skull
Beautiful death, who puts on a spotted robe when he goes to his victim
Playful killer, whose loving embrace splits the antelope’s heart” – Yorùbà oriki (praise poem)
The Nhlanguleni Female shows raw power as she lifts a fully grown female impala into the nearest tree. Holding nearly one and a half times her body weight in her jaws, the feat of strength needed for such a manoeuvre sets leopards apart from all other predators
Initially skittish she spent a lot of time in the Sand River, now relaxed she makes up the majority of leopard viewing west of camp.
Recently, we had an incredible sighting of a seldom-seen male leopard, the Xitsalala Male. At four and a half years old, this male is well into the nomadic stage of his life, flying beneath the radar of established males, wandering through multiple territories as he seeks to gain size and experience. Following him through the thick wild date palms of the Manyeleti Riverbed in the northern section of the reserve was picturesque at worst. Chaos ensued when a flash erupted from beneath a bush and before we knew it, he had caught a large spotted genet right next to our vehicle!
A moment perfectly captured in a recent blog by ranger Kelsey Clark! An incredible sighting in the thickets of the Manyelethi River, the Xitsalala Male holds the large spotted genet he just caught.
A handsome young male leopard that originates from Ngala in the Timbavati Reserve north of here. He had a sister who made it to independence
As we sat in awe with the adrenaline subsiding, tracker Ray Mabilane and I started talking about the variety of kills we both have seen a leopard consume, and that got me thinking. What exactly do leopards eat?
Well rather the title of this blog should have been: ‘What don’t leopards eat’. The answer to the previous question is: shortly, anything. Fire a quick question at your guide, or have a look through the archives of sightings of leopards and their kills and one would assume mainly impala (and other small antelope). However, these are the kills we witness, as in an incredible display of strength they are usually hoisted up into a tree and last for a couple of days.
A pretty young playful female found along the river to the east of camp
However, as is usually the case with leopards, there’s more than just what we see. While leopards show distinct preferences in their prey selection, they also have the most diverse diet of all African cats. In the Kruger National Park, they are known to prey on at least 32 species and 24 in the Serengeti. While over the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa, their hunting tally exceeds 100 species, from winged termites and frogs, fish and reptiles, birds and rodents, to large antelope and even to zebra foals and the calves of giraffes and buffalo.
Unofficially the biggest leopard in the Sabi Sands, the Anderson male is an absolutely enormous individual in north western Londolozi.
A study of leopard scat in Kenya’s Tsavo National Park revealed that 35% of the scats contained rodents, 27% birds, 27% small antelope, 12% large antelope and 10% hares. Compare this to another study in Zimbabwe’s Matobo Nation Park where hyraxes (dassies), hares and klipspringer made up more than 50% of leopard kills, and you can quickly see that a leopard diet is largely varied based on the habitat they find themselves occupying. Or is it that they are able to occupy such a diversity of habitats due to the adaptability of their hunting and diet?
A gorgeous female who is found to the east of camp. Easily recognised by her 2:2 spot pattern she is often to be found in Marula trees.
Here in the Sabi Sand, due to the high density of small and medium-sized prey antelope, this will form the basis of their diet. A key component I believe in a leopard’s diet is the energy they have to expend to kill their prey vs the energy reward they get (and the risk involved). Have a look at the data collected from Panthera for 2022, which shows the percentage of leopard kills by species. As I said previously, however, we must note they these were only the kills observed, and many of the smaller rodents and birds would be consumed immediately, with no trace and thus not recorded.
Data collected within the Sabi Sand during the year 2022 by Panthera, shows the percentages of seen leopard kills across multiple species of mammals.
In sharing some of these ideas with the guides here, we started sharing stories of what we had witnessed leopards stalking and eating:
- Termites and arthropods
- Mice, shrews and gerbils
- Reptiles, including pythons, tortoises, monitor lizards and even crocodiles
- Catfish and tilapia
- Scrub hares, civets, genets and even wild dogs.
- Pangolin and aardvark
- Birds- from turtle doves to ostriches – with francolin and guineafowl regularly seen.
- Vervet monkeys and baboons
- Warthogs and hyenas
- Duiker, steenkbok, bushbuck
- Impala, nyala, wildebeest and zebra
- Giraffe and buffalo calves
Perhaps in a future blog, we can discuss the possibility of leopards varying their diet based on the time of year, but that’s for another day. For now, and as we spend each day unlocking the mystery surrounding these enigmatic cats, I never fail to marvel at their presence and cunning. Have you ever witnessed a leopard’s elegant prowess or shared in their diverse dietary choices?
Fascinating blog! Leopards are incredible cats and undoubtedly have the most varied diet. I wonder, have you ever seen them hunting bushbabies? That would be incredible!
Would love to see a similar post on other predators like lions, cheetahs, wild dogs, hyenas and even pythons and crocodiles. It’s so interesting to hear what you and other guides have seen them hunting.
After reading your blog Keagan, it appears leopards are as much opportunistic in hunting as hyenas are in stealing meals from them. I had no idea they hunted and consumed creatures as small as amphibians and birds. I’ve only observed them with significant kills such as a small wildebeest and impala, so I appreciated the inclusion of Panthera’s chart that illustrates the leopard kills by species. Thanks so much.
Hi Keagan, leopards are the ultimate hunters, as the beautiful short native poem underlines. They also thrive in Asia and would do in othern eatern countries, Russia included, if they were not so savagely hunted. Big cats evolution in the history shows how leopards and jaguar dominated the whole world and were miserably reduced by the human action. This is one of the reason why, among others, they are my favourite large predators. Just let nature do her way and leopards will be the world’s owners. Of course one strategy is to eat practically all they find… I owned gerbils and mice as a young girl, I love them, as I love all animals, but this does clash with my understanding of nature. I even saw a mother leopard killing and eating a wild African cat, which was sad and a bit shocking (cat eats cat) but so nature works.
Hi Keagan, what interesting information you have given us about the diet of the leopards. A person usually assumes they kill mostly impala and other antelope. I know they also love warthog and will quietly wait until the warthog comes out his hole so that they can catch them. It is a pity that some times the hyenas come and steal their hard earned kill in the end. But with such a diverse diet, I suppose they are not limited to one particular meal, which is excellent. I love the leopards of Londolozi, and they are my favorite cats.
Great blog, Keagan.
Leopards definitely are my favorite animals and their hunting skills and eating habits are fascinating. I saw a leopard with something small, probably a genet, at Londolozi. And I was told by the ranger at Tengile that one leopard there even ate her own cub after it had been killed by a hyena. This really shocked me a bit.
But nature has its own ways … Fascinating anyway.
As long as “tourists” don’t feature on the list, I’m happy to celebrate the diversity of their dietary choices. 😉 In all seriousness, their opportunistic nature will hopefully support their continued success world wide, so long as we stay out of the way and let them do their thing.
Keagan, apparently the answer to the question is, anything they can catch! Great blog with information to educate us all.
Hi Keagan, thanks for the blog. When I was there mid-November, we found Plaque Rock with a kudu calf she had just killed. When such a diverse diet is available, you can see why leopards are able to flourish.
Wow that Anderson male is so unique looking! As to their diet…feel like even house cats will initially play with anything that moves and eventually eat it! ha!
We are all besotted by leopards! Yes, we see them eat their “typical” meals of antelope and smaller mammals. I have also witnessed Luluka (Mara) kill and eat a serval. They also can and do eat each other (usually cubs). Sad but true. Cheetahs,wildcats, lion cubs, too. This is what makes them successful, mysterious, enigmatic, just a teensy bit creepy and awe-inspiring!
Keagan, Thanks for the interesting data on the Leopards. We knew there are a lot of Leopards in Sabi, but were not aware of the numbers! It does make sense that they feed on different species based on where they live and what is available in that area. We were very luck to witness the Three Rivers Leopard chasing and catching Genet up a tree and into the air next to our vehicle on our last visit. Exciting!