It seems that being bored while waiting for their mother might be an almost universal animal experience. Even worse is when she’s not even in sight, having gone out into the world to conduct leopard business, with no telling when she might get home.
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Alberto Scattolin, from Matimba Bush Lodge, caught these two leopard cubs finding ways to alleviate that boredom by initiating a terrible and ferocious war over each other’s tails.
Alberto caught this footage on the H14 in the Kruger National Park, and it shows the adorable antics that leopard cubs will get up to when their mom’s away and they have the time to play.
First Strike
Leopard litters can consist of up to four cubs, but two is more common, like these two here. Games like these are an important part of their social development, and it wouldn’t be long until they graduated from attacking each other’s tails to hunting real food.
The game of war started when one leopard took an interest in the other’s tail. Having it swishing back and forth was no doubt distracting, and the little cub made the opening strike of the battle, batting the offending tail with its paws and clamped it between its teeth and gave it a shake.
These instinctive movements, in particular the head shaking, showed just how much these cubs had already learned. It wouldn’t be long until they were accompanying their mom on hunting trips, and then breaking out on their own as independent youngsters.
Retaliatory Assault
The head shaking was a technique that neither leopard would forget, as it would prove to be a technique used to subdue prey swiftly in the wild, but for now, it was just a part of their cute games.
Such an opening move could not go unanswered, however. The unprovoked tail attack seemed to attract the wrath of the sibling, and it turned to take a return shot in this deadly war.
The defending sibling struck back against the haunches of its attacker, and the battle escalated as the two cubs found themselves circling a central point, each fixed on the other’s tail.
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The Endless Circle Of War
Chasing and attacking each other’s tails proved to be a game far too entertaining for them to abandon quickly, and it seemed the cycle of war would continue until their mother returned to distract them from their battle.
It seemed that Alberto himself offered some distraction as one of the cubs spotted the camera through the trees, but it lacked the curiosity to come closer and inspect it before its sibling attacked again, and the game continued.
There was no telling how long it might be before their mom came back, but these two cubs had certainly found a fun way to spend the time waiting for her.
Once they become adults, these two will lead solitary lifestyles, but for now they had each other’s company and that was something they could enjoy.
For safari goers, their mischievous games can be entertaining, but remember to let these animals have their space, as they’re only young and might be easily disturbed, and their mother could be back at any second.