Cats are notorious for playing with their prey. Difficult to watch at the best of times, in this footage, a leopard toys with an injured impala lamb.
Marine Servonnat submitted this challenging footage to Latest Sightings. She filmed it in Botswana’s Okavango Delta.
Watch the video here:
Lamb in a bush
In her submission, Marine told Latest Sightings that the leopard discovered the lamb hidden in a bush while its mother grazed nearby.
Subsequently, it seized the defenceless creature, delivering a bite that partially paralysed it. However, instead of finishing it off and eating, the leopard had other plans.
As the video rolls, a spotlight illuminates a macabre scene. The leopard lies alongside the gravely injured impala. At first, we assume the lamb is dead.
Twitch brings terror
Subsequently, the leopard moves its paw across the lamb’s body. As it does, the impala’s ear twitches upward, alerting us to the fact that it is still alive.
As Marine watched, she said she could hear bones crunching as the leopard chewed the lamb’s tail. However, it did not seem interested in feeding.
Immobilised
While we don’t know the exact nature of the injury inflicted on the lamb, it was unable to get up, suggesting a spinal injury.
Subsequently, we see the lamb manage to turn its head, adding to our sympathy for the poor creature. While it is obviously distressed, we can only hope that the spinal injury meant the animal was not feeling any pain.
Additionally, the lamb would be in a deep state of shock, further reducing the likelihood that it could feel anything.
Dispassionate
As for the leopard, its apparent disinterest in feeding and toying with its prey instead is hard for us humans to reconcile with our emotions and values.
At times like this its important to remember that our emotions have no place in the natural world. Nature operates according to its own laws.
For the leopard, the impala’s movements stimulate its instincts to “hunt”, even though it is apparently not ready to feed. It is not being mean, it is simply passing the time.
Bizarre licking
What happens next also challenges us. Bizarrely, the leopard starts licking the lamb.
Before feeding, it is common for leopards to thoroughly clean their prey. This is done to remove scents that might attract scavengers and for hygiene purposes. They also use their coarse tongues to remove fur, which might hamper digestion.
Mercy at last?
After a while, the leopard raises its head, coming eye-to-eye with the lamb. At this point, we hope the leopard will put it out of its misery.
According to Marine, this behaviour went on for a long time and was very difficult for her to witness. However, as it turned out, the cat wasn’t ready to dine just yet.
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Play-hunting?
Instead, it rolled onto its back, continuing to paw at the helpless impala. This kind of behaviour cannot be explained in human terms.
If anything, we can guess that the leopard is instinctively practicing its hunting skills.
Enough is enough
Eventually, the tragic scene was too much for Marine and her companions to bear. As she tells it, “We left the scene as it became overwhelming and only hoped that the leopard [would] kill the impala for good.”