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Benjamin Scheepers sent in this extraordinary sighting of a lion behaving against its type, by doing its best impression of a leopard in order to steal food from the other big cat.
A field guide in the Greater Kruger, Benjamin was out with his group in the morning when they followed the cues of vultures, eventually finding the male lion.
He said that his group had only just spotted the lion, when the “next thing [they] knew, this male started trotting towards a tree and actually started climbing!”
Opportunistic Thieves
Leopards live solitary lifestyles, which means they can’t easily defend their kills from animals that live in social groups, like lions and hyenas. To help them keep their own prey, they have the habit of hiding their kills in the tops of trees, as they’re exceptional climbers.
This technique is usually very effective against lions, who struggle to climb because of their weight and poorly suited morphology. Sometimes though, as in this case, lions will still make the attempt in order to steal from the smaller cats.
Determined In The Face Of Hardship
The dead impala wasn’t going to come easily though. Presumably the leopard had wedged it firmly in there to make sure it didn’t fall out.
This meant it wasn’t going to be the quick snatch and grab the lion was hoping for, as it struggled to get the impala free and escape with it. Despite being out of its comfort zone, the lion didn’t give up, and continued worrying at the carcass to try and dislodge it.
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Benjamin said that there “was no leopard around at the time” which was fortunate for it really, as this male lion had a brother prowling the base of the tree and a lone leopard wouldn’t risk fighting both.
Unlucky Leopards
Because leopards are stealthy and hard to spot, it’s possible that the one that stashed this impala for later was watching from somewhere, powerless to stop the lion as it stole the carcass.
Both lions and leopards are listed as being vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN, making this a valuable meal to either cat. However, leopards are more vulnerable than lions while hunting because they do it alone, which makes this a bigger problem for the solitary cat.
Sharing Is Caring
If the leopard was there, it could only watch in dismay as the lion finally managed to get the impala loose, and carry it down from the tree. Even though it hadn’t put any work in, the other lion quickly came over to have its share of the impala.
This, according to Benjamin, “gave off somewhat of a rumpus, but after a quick game of tug-a-war, both lions had a quick snack and went to take a nap in the shade”.
It sounded like those two lions had a great time, but somewhere out there a leopard was going hungry, after already putting in the work to get the kill.