Seseka climbing tree with Duiker.
Seseka climbing tree with Duiker.

We have visited Chitwa Chitwa Game Lodge, in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve in South Africa, many times, and the sightings there of leopards are exceptional. This shot was taken using flash just after the sun had gone down, in early May 2003. The leopard had earlier caught a duiker (a small antelope) and was eating it at the base of a tree. After suckling, her four month old cub was more interested in amusing herself. Having played with the grass and her mother’s tail, climbed a small tree and growled at our vehicle, the cub started to play with the carcase. Irritated, the leopard finally took her kill up the tree - which was too high for the cub to climb - so that she could finish her meal in peace. The cub remained below, plaintively looking upwards.



The following morning, the leopard was up the tree finishing off the last of the duiker, watched intently from the ground below by a large female hyena, which made a grab for the final bones as they fell. The cub was safely up another tree a short way off, watching the hyena with a serious expression, as the hyena would not have hesitated to kill the cub if she could. When the hyena had finished eating and left, the cub immediately began calling to her mother, anxious to rejoin her as soon as possible. Soon they were both on the ground and walked off into the bush to find water to drink.



Both mother and (now independent adult) daughter were still thriving when we last revisited them in August 2006.

Ref: 974442

Location: Chitwa Chitwa Game Lodge

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Seseka climbing tree with Duiker.

We have visited Chitwa Chitwa Game Lodge, in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve in South Africa, many times, and the sightings there of leopards are exceptional. This shot was taken using flash just after the sun had gone down, in early May 2003. The leopard had earlier caught a duiker (a small antelope) and was eating it at the base of a tree. After suckling, her four month old cub was more interested in amusing herself. Having played with the grass and her mother’s tail, climbed a small tree and growled at our vehicle, the cub started to play with the carcase. Irritated, the leopard finally took her kill up the tree - which was too high for the cub to climb - so that she could finish her meal in peace. The cub remained below, plaintively looking upwards.



The following morning, the leopard was up the tree finishing off the last of the duiker, watched intently from the ground below by a large female hyena, which made a grab for the final bones as they fell. The cub was safely up another tree a short way off, watching the hyena with a serious expression, as the hyena would not have hesitated to kill the cub if she could. When the hyena had finished eating and left, the cub immediately began calling to her mother, anxious to rejoin her as soon as possible. Soon they were both on the ground and walked off into the bush to find water to drink.



Both mother and (now independent adult) daughter were still thriving when we last revisited them in August 2006.

Ref: 974442

Location: Chitwa Chitwa Game Lodge

Buy this print online:

 
Item added to cart