As a guide at Londolozi, certain sounds immediately sharpen your senses. The alarm call of a vervet monkey is one of them.
One afternoon recently, it was exactly that sound that set the stage for one of the most unusual leopard sightings I’ve witnessed in a long time. As we moved slowly along the road, a chorus of vervet monkeys began barking from the trees ahead of us. Their calls were urgent and insistent.
A Vervet monkey looks out towards a leopard walking through the bush below.
Tracker Joy barely hesitated.
“That’s a leopard,” he said confidently, already scanning the thickets in the direction of the calls. Years in the bush have trained him to read these subtle cues with remarkable accuracy. The monkeys were staring into a small drainage line ahead, and as we eased closer, we could feel the anticipation building.
Moments later, we saw her.
A confident and curious young leopard, that is nearing independence after a remarkable start to life alongside her resilient mother.
A young female leopard moved along the edge of a mud wallow, her body low and focused. Her attention was fixed on a small group of White-faced Whistling Ducks resting in the shallow water. It was the Tinxiya Female leopard, the latest offspring of the Three Rivers Female.
Leopards are masters of stealth, but waterbirds are not easy prey, as they can fly away. The ducks seemed relaxed, occasionally paddling and preening, unaware of the imminent danger. For a few seconds, everything was still. Then chaos erupted.
Watch the action unfold in the video below:
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In a sudden burst of speed, the Tinxiya Female launched herself straight into the mud wallow. Water and mud exploded in every direction as she charged through the shallow pool. Ducks scattered frantically, wings beating against the water in a desperate attempt to escape.
Incredibly, through the splashing and confusion, she managed to clamp her jaws around one of them. With a powerful leap, she bounded back out of the water, the duck held firmly in her mouth. It was an extraordinary moment. In all my years of guiding, I had never seen a leopard catch a duck in a mud wallow like that. The clumsy energy of the chase and the spray of muddy water made it feel surreal.
With the White-faced Whistling Duck securely clasped in her jaws, the leopard turned and walked away from the mud wallow.
But the most fascinating part came afterwards. Once the initial excitement had settled, it quickly became clear that this young leopard wasn’t entirely sure what to do next. She shifted her grip on the duck several times, holding it somewhat awkwardly and then the duck began to flap.
Without the firm, suffocating bite that experienced leopards use to dispatch their prey, the bird was still very much alive and repeatedly tried to take off. Several times it slipped partially free, wings beating frantically as it attempted to lift into the air. Each time the young leopard reacted quickly, pouncing and re-catching it before it could escape completely. It was a slightly chaotic scene as the determined young leopard repeatedly reclaimed her prize, while the duck fought desperately for freedom.
After repeatedly trying to escape the grip of the leopard, the duck is caught again with the incredible reaction and speed of the leopard.
This is one of the most important yet often unseen parts of a predator’s life: learning. Leopards are not born perfect hunters. While instinct plays a role, much of their skill comes from experience and trial and error. Young leopards must experiment with different prey species, slowly discovering what they are capable of catching and how best to handle them.
The first few hunts for this young leopard are clumsy and uncertain. This sighting was a perfect reminder of that process. While she showed incredible determination and athleticism in catching the duck, she still had lessons to learn about how to properly dispatch such unusual prey. In time, through many more hunts and many more mistakes, those lessons will shape her into the formidable predator that leopards are known to be.
But for now, watching her standing beside that muddy wallow, repeatedly securing her unusual catch as it tried to escape, felt like witnessing an early chapter in a leopard’s education. And it’s moments like these that make time spent in the bush so endlessly fascinating.
Always a pleasure to se these youngsters find their way. Hopefully. We’ll see many more of her adventures.
Hi Nick, very fascinating. Did you stay to see if she eventually ate it?
Hi Nick, she offered a show, although I felt for the duck, youngsters are terrible when hunting, but she’s so agile and surely her mother was a great teacher! I love to see her daughter pawing into her new life, and look forward to know more about the Three Rivers female ‘s new offspring!
Presumably she did finally get her meal?
As she’s been independent for a while now I’m assuming she must have been able to kill impala….though would she have learnt that from watching her mother?
Beautifully told, Nick!
I love this: “Leopards are defined not by habit, but by opportunity. Whatever the bush presents, they adapt.” So well-captured and so true. Also, very inspiring for us humans: there is infinite payoff in adapting and less so in being tied by habits.
Thank you for sharing this story!
Poor duck. Of, course, young predators have to practice and learn who they catch and how they do it best.
The Tinxiya Female is a fascinating young leopard; she did the catching part extremely well. And I hope for the duck that her suffering part was as short as possible.
By the way, when leopards catch let’s say an Impala, they have to get rid of the animal’s fur before they can start eating their prey. What about this duck? Did she get rid of all those feathers?
Wow, I would have thought its slender neck just snapped upon being caught. That was great practice for her, although tough times for the duck. Did she eventually finish the job?
Hi Nick, shame I felt sorry for the poor duck. I am sure with time she will learn more proper ways of catching a kill and also what to catch. All a learning curve as a young leopard ventures the great big world in the bush.
I would have loved to have seen that capture by Tinxiya – a young leopard taking down a duck but then not sure of what to do next – seems larger prey animals are easier to control and consume. Thanks for including the video as the dive into the pond was worth watching!
What a catch! Reminds me of the fish-eating cub a few years back! Great images too.