A Leopard's Tale

[janzin]

Fantastic, especially the video...really brings it to life!

 

[CaroleE]

What a great leopard sighting. Fantastic photos,thank you for sharing.

Looking forward to hearing about the lion and hippo story!

[Whyone?]

Thank you @janzin and @CaroleEfor your kind comments.

 

OK.....lion and hippo.

 

Prior to visiting this area of South Luangwa we were anticipating seeing large lion prides.

 

This really didn't transpire - we saw lions, lots of lions, but generally in one's and two's, scattered all over the place.  The 'two's' were mainly mating pairs (with mating occurring every 10 minutes or so for 3-4 days)

 

We had seen this pair a number of times over a few days - the female easily recognisable as the tip of her tail is missing.

 

 

We briefly caught up with them late one evening and Robert said that they had finished mating and he was pretty sure that the male would kill that evening - look at how in need of a feed he is:

 

Just 15 minutes later we had settled down for sundowners and the radio cracked into life - Robert said "he's killed a hippo, shall we go?"  

 

We went.

 

However when we arrived, it wasn't quite true to say that he'd 'killed' the hippo.  This is the scene which greeted us:

 

He had caught a young hippo - perhaps 6-8 weeks old, but unfortunately he hadn't killed it.  We were there for about 30 minutes and it was a very tough watch (and listen) with the hippo thrashing about and calling mournfully throughout.

 

As I am sure folks here know, lions generally kill by clamping their jaws on the lower neck of their prey and closing the windpipe.  It seemed the broad neck of the hippo made this approach impossible.  So the lion literally started to eat the hippo alive.

 

 

The following morning, he was still eating, though thankfully the hippo was now dead.

 

Once the sun was on the carcass, he did dragged it into the shade.

 

Later that day we again caught up with him....now lolling from side to side, not knowing what to do with himself apparently in some discomfort having eaten far too much!!!

Edited October 1, 2022 by Whyone?

[Kitsafari]

oh that must have been so difficult to watch, hearing that poor hippo called while being eaten. i wonder why the mother didn't come charging at the male lion, it was after all only one lion. 

 

thanks for sharing the story of the lion and hippo. it sure was a great teaser of a shot, and rare to watch a lion on a hippo, even if it was a baby hippo. 

 

[Whyone?]

We wondered the same thing about the young hippo's mother - our guide said that ordinarily she would have tried to protect him/her and he suggested that perhaps the youngster had just wandered away / become isolated and the lion exploited the opportunity?

[AKR1]

On 9/30/2022 at 1:22 PM, janzin said:

Fantastic, especially the video...really brings it to life!

 

Agree. Stunning video. The speed with which a leopard can transverse myriad branches of different thicknesses, some which cannot support its weight, is astonishing. I’m surprised it did not catch a baboon. 

[Galago]

That must've been a tough encounter.  I don't suppose any of us are sentimental about kills, but to see and hear that was, I imagine, a bit grim.  Thanks for two fascinating stories.

[michael-ibk]

Wow, the Leopard photos are just out of this world, bravo! A truly spectacular sighting, wonderful. Not sure I would like to see that kind of Hippo kill - certainly a very intense sighting. Thanks for sharing, and hopefully more to come?

[Whyone?]

Hi @michael-ibk- thank you for your kind comments about the photo's - they are very much appreciated.

 

As I mentioned in the pre-amble, one of the reasons for choosing South Luangwa was to hopefully improve on my historically poor leopard sighting record.....at Mana I didn't see this one when it was sitting ~5' from my head....perhaps I need to try harder!!!

https://ianlinnett.smugmug.com/Zambia-Leopard-Story-2022/i-c7f2QK9/A

 

When on our very first drive at Flatdog's we came across a beautiful female leopard snoozing photogenically in a tree, I was happy!  As the week progressed we saw ever more active leopards, sometimes in wonderful light, and the trip as a whole really did exceed my wildest expectations.

 

As for the young hippo, you are quite right, it was an intense experience and not at all pleasant to watch.  I only took a very few photos as it somehow didn't seem right.....no, I'll never make a wildlife photographer!

Edited October 11, 2022 by Whyone?

[CaroleE]

Tht was one difficult lion/hippo encounter to read about. I can not imagine how it would have been to experience it first hand.

But the male lion definitely needed food at that point. He did look thin. So it wasn't for nothing.

Sometimes you have to show the not so nice side of a safari and not just the nice ' fluffy' side.

Pleased to hear that South Luangwa delivered and your leopard count increased!

[Whyone?]

Hi @Carole

 

The lion certainly needed to eat and I suspect the young hippo was just in the wrong place at the wrong time (or right place at the right time from the lions perspective!)

 

This is just the way things work and I agree with you, there is too much candy-coating goes on (esp. in wildlife documentaries), we certainly shouldn't be too sentimental / try to project human emotions onto these situations. Nothing would have gone to waste once the lions, hyena, vultures etc had finished. 

 

As for my personal leopard count ....yes indeed, it has sky rocketed!   

Edited October 12, 2022 by Whyone?

[Towlersonsafari]

what wonderful photo's-i think we may have seen the baboon chasing leopard ( although he was resting in a tree) and his mum on our recent trip @Whyone?

[Whyone?]

Hi @Towlersonsafari - I'm pleased you like the photo's and I do hope that it was the same young male you saw - I'd like to think he is getting on OK.

Edited September 27, 2023 by Whyone?