Competition for prey can be fierce, especially when some predators have the opportunity to get a free meal without putting any effort into it. But three’s a crowd, and only one of these leopards could leave with the carcass.
Dylan Pons from &Beyond caught this incredible meeting of three leopards on camera, and sent the footage of the event to Latest Sightings. It was time for several tense standoffs, and only one winner.
A Successful Day
The wild doesn’t guarantee survival for any animal, and tracking, stalking, ambushing and sometimes fighting a prey animal rather predictably takes a considerable amount of energy.
That makes any day when a predator like this leopard has made a kill a very good one for it. For leopards, which live alone, a single kill like this one could provide several days worth of food.
This is part of the reason they’ve developed the method of stashing their kills in trees. Not only is it a safe place for the leopard, it’s a safe place for the food to last without scavengers taking it.
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Suffering From Success
But while these tactics might prove effective against lions, hyenas and wild dogs, other leopards pose a little bit more of a problem. This happy leopard was now coming up against once of the other problems with hunting.
Aside from the energy expenditure it takes to get a meal, hunts can often be noisy affairs with the physical scuffle, and sometimes distressing sounds of the prey animal crying out in panic or pain.
These noises can often act as a summons to other predators and scavengers in the area that know what they signify. Before the hunting leopard had safely hidden its prey in a tree, a second leopard came along to investigate.
A Gang Of Opportunists
Stealing kills from more successful competitors is a quick and easy way of getting all the pleasure of a meal without having to put in any effort. A sandwich always tastes better if it’s been prepared by someone else.
Leopard number two was applying this philosophy liberally. Despite all of the noise they make, big cats don’t really want to fight each other, as potential injuries might mean they are unable to hunt in the future.
Battles tend to be focused around posturing and intimidation more than anything else, and this second leopard was able to convince the first that it wasn’t worth hanging around, chasing it up a tree and stealing the fresh kill for itself.
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There’s Always A Bigger Fish
What this second leopard hadn’t considered was that these same tactics would be just as easily employed by a surprise third leopard that was also in the area and coming to investigate all of the noise.
Leopard number two tried to stand protectively over its pilfered prey, but in only seconds the larger leopard number three had forced it into retreat. As the biggest of the three, it seemed that the third leopard was going to be the only one not going hungry.