The life of an impala out in the wild is tough, this one showed just how tough it can be while being the target of a leopard, hyena, and 2 crocodiles.
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IT Consultant, Travis Carreira, during a trip to Marloth Park, which borders the Kruger National Park, captured this once-in-a-lifetime sighting. Travis shared his footage and story with LatestSightings.com.
“Maureen and Piet, a couple of my friends, spotted a leopard from within the fence of Marloth Park, on the other side of the Crocodile River. As the day progressed, the temperatures peaked at around 41 degrees Celsius. Maureen and Piet sat through it, watching the leopard attempt hunt after hunt, with no success. As soon as I finished my workday, I left straight to where they had seen the leopard last in hopes of spotting it too.”
“I was watching the beautiful sunset on the river when a gentleman came up to me and asked if I could see anything. I explained to him that there had been a leopard hanging around all day, but I couldn’t see it. He then pointed and said, there! There’s the leopard! We jumped up and ran closer to the fence to get a visual.”
“When running to the fence, I lost sight of it again but caught a glimpse of a hyena who moved into a gully. Then I noticed a small herd of impala, and they were moving in the direction of the hyena. I knew something was about to happen, so I started to film them. As Murphy’s law would have it, I readjusted to get more comfortable, and the next thing, the leopard jumped up and caught one of the impalas!”
“Shortly after that, the hyena tried to catch one of the other impalas but failed. A little disheartened, the hyena turned its attention to the leopard. Seeing that the leopard was successful, it thought that it would be easier to steal a meal rather than to try hunting again. The hyena moved in quickly and stole the impala right from the leopard’s mouth. The impala was still alive at this point, and the hyena began dragging it up the hill to a safe spot to eat it. The hyena had a firm grip on the impala, even though it was still kicking there was no way it could break free.”
“Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed more movement. Two massive crocodiles, likely attracted by the commotion, emerged from the river, complicating the situation. The larger crocodile went straight for the impala that was still kicking in the hyena’s jaws. Once the crocodile got a hold of the impala and crushed it with its powerful jaws that was the end of the impala’s life.”
“The leopard who made the initial kill was very hesitant of both the hyena and the crocodiles, so it made one or two half-hearted attempts at getting its food back but was not successful. All this commotion and noise attracted another hyena. This one was bigger and seemed to be more confident. It instantly went to the crocodiles and bit onto the impala, trying to steal it from them.”
“The 1st hyena now also confident with its buddy around, joined in the tug of war. The two hyenas tried using tactics to steal the meal again, but this time, they were left with just some scraps of meat, and the majority was taken by the crocodile.
There were a few other people at the sighting with me. At times, it felt like we were spectators in an arena. The excitement couldn’t be contained as we witnessed this once-in-a-lifetime sighting.”