This rare sighting was filmed by Deon Wessels in Chitwa Chitwa Game Lodge.
Leopard sneaks up on hyena
The spotted hyena lay quite blissfully in the long grass, feeding on a kill which it had stolen from some leopards in the vicinity.
However, this leopard cub wasn’t about to take the hyena’s crime lying down.
While the hyena lay feeding from the carcass, the leopard could be seen sneaking up on it.
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While hyenas are successful hunters, they often scavenge meals from lions, leopards and other predators.
This is exactly what this one did. However, it didn’t expect the cub to retaliate.
Cub shows tremendous courage
For a cub to approach a hyena and steal part of its meal, it needs a remarkable combination of boldness, timing and opportunity.
This cub demonstrated tremendous courage as it crept through the long grass towards the hyena.
Perhaps some of the reason for its bravado was that its mother was nearby. She would sort that hyena out if it tried anything!
Leopard cubs are born vulnerable and spend their first weeks hidden in dens chosen by their mothers.
The mother usually moves cubs between different hiding places to reduce the risk of predators discovering them.
As they grow older, cubs begin accompanying their mother and gradually learn the skills they will need to survive, including stalking, climbing and handling prey.
Hyena becomes aware of cub’s approach
When the leopard got a little too close to the hyena, the hyena caught wind that the young animal was nearby and jumped up. It faced the leopard cub’s direction and started to run towards it.
As formidable scavengers and hunter, the spotted hyena has one of the strongest bites among African mammals and powerful jaws capable of crushing and consuming bones.
This makes a leopard cub attempting to confront a hyena particularly unusual.
This cub was be taking a considerable risk, especially as the hyena was still actively defending its food.
Leopards normally avoid unnecessary confrontations with larger predators and competitors. A young cub may nevertheless exploit a moment when the hyena is distracted, moving in quickly to grab a piece of meat.
Young leopard successfully flees from hyena
Fortunately the young cub had strong reflexes and took off like the wind, attempting to climb a tree to evade the hyena’s attack.
It made it temporarily up the trunk and when this didn’t work as expected, it returned to the long grass to be by its mother.
With its mother nearby, the attack was thwarted. The brave young leopard was safe.
Interestingly, leopards have also been known to steal meals! They frequently drag kills into trees, particularly when they have caught relatively small prey.
This behaviour helps protect their food from competitors such as hyenas, lions and other leopards.
A leopard can haul surprisingly heavy prey into a tree using its powerful forelimbs, shoulders and jaws.
Hyenas, however, are not easily intimidated. They can climb over difficult terrain and may investigate leopard kills whenever they get the opportunity. A leopard that has lost its meal may have to abandon the carcass rather than risk serious injury in a confrontation.
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