When a lady is sleeping, you better let her sleep – even if the lady in question is a leopardess!
This clueless male leopard, however, came a little close to a sleeping female leopard; and suffered the consequences. While she might have not physically attacked him, she certainly put him in his place!
Adult male leopard spies female in the distance
Perhaps for this male leopard it was love at first sight when he spied a leopardess in the distance. She was lying down, having just fed.
Pieter explained that the female leopard had been sighted with a buck in the morning. With her stomach full, she had no desire to be up and about. Rather, she appeared to be relishing the opportunity for a lazy few hours in the still of the bushveld.
The buck remains were near to her, as she lay spreadeagled in the gentle sunlight, not a care in the world.
However, this male leopard was possibly not an expert at reading body language, and he slowly approached her. “When we approached the area of the female, we saw a male leopard walking towards the female!” said Pieter.
He walked with full confidence across the bushy terrain. While leopards are generally solitary animals, they might come together for mating purposes and for the purpose of raising their young.
This male leopard was definitely after something.
He made a beeline for the female. While she did see him approach, she put her head down and chose instead to take a nap. He, however, did not see this as a deterrent.
‘Initially, we felt a collective feeling of excitement, seeing two adult leopards in the same sighting. Then it got rather humorous,” said Pieter.
Stage set for a dramatic encounter
As the male leopard approached the female, the suspense grew. Pieter said that after the female leopard had decided to take a nap, he then started stalking towards her as if she had not seen him, inching closer, and closer…
She was unaware of his advancements.
‘Sleeping Beauty’ wakes up
When the male made it right up to her, the leopardess got quite a fright, having been rudely awakened.
She growled at the male, flashing teeth and claws. He retaliated and chased her up a tree.
However, while he might not have found a mate, he did manage to get something of a free meal. Pieter said that after chasing the female up the tree, the male then moved towards her meal.
Perhaps it was her meal he had been after all along!
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“She eventually descended from the tree and moved off. It later became clear that there wasn’t much left of the buck, certainly not enough worth defending or hanging around over.”
This dynamic display of leopard vs leopard is one that Pieter won’t easily forget. It was definitely a humorous encounter, and a reminder that animals aren’t always perfect in their ways and timing, but that the awkwardness and unpredictability of nature sometimes makes for the best sightings.
Possibly the male leopard learned his lesson and next time, will let sleeping leopards lie.