A leopard lays a perfect ambush when it sees an unsuspecting warthog family – they ignorantly walk right into it!
Merwe van Niekerk, a dentist, and Kruger enthusiast, filmed this unbelievable wildlife encounter and shared it with Latest Sightings.
Merwe along with his wife and parents, left camp early in the morning. “Usually, we like to stay at Satara, but for some reason, we thought we would try camping at Pretoriuskop this time. We had plans to take a slow drive toward Skukuza, where we would stop for lunch”
“The roads were dead quiet, and we saw hardly any animals for a while. Then, my wife said something caught her eye, and thought it might have been a leopard. Finally, some hope, but after scanning for nothing but rocks during most of the morning, I was still a little doubtful.”
“She was busy doing her makeup in the car, so I still have no idea how she saw it. But, when we reversed, there it was, a beautiful leopard, just lying under a tree.”
“We spent quite a bit of time with it, and after lots of photos, my parents, who were in a different vehicle, decided to carry on towards our lunch stop, while we stayed.”
“As my parents left, they radioed back to let us know that they had just seen some warthogs crossing the road. I still remember my mother joking about them being eaten by the leopard.”
“Maybe a couple of minutes later, there was a drastic change in the leopard’s behavior. We have cats at home, and it reminded us of how they go into stalk mode. This is when things got really exciting! We quickly put the camera down and pulled our phones out to start recording”
“The warthogs had no idea of the danger just ahead of them. The leopard, on the other hand, couldn’t believe its luck. Lunch was literally walking right towards it!”
This happened in the middle of the dry season, and there wasn’t much for cover. Yet, still, the leopard kept its composure and slowly crawled to a tiny patch of grass, just off the game path.
The warthogs were getting really close now. They were still completely ignorant of the leopard just meters away, but for some reason, they suddenly stopped. Maybe a gut feeling? The warthog that was leading the family chose to ignore it; the last mistake it ever made…
After a few more steps, the leopard had the perfect opportunity to launch its attack. There was simply nothing the warthog could have done to escape.
“This was a big warthog and it took the leopard some time to finish the job. When it finally made the kill, we thought it would immediately hoist it into a tree, but I think the prey was too big, or maybe the cat was too exhausted.”
“Instead, the leopard dragged the warthog’s body across the road, right in front of us, where it disappeared into the bushes on the other side.”
“Even after countless trips to Kruger, a perfect leopard ambush is usually only something you dream of being able to see. I still can’t believe I managed to catch it all on film!”