The tragic sighting of a porcupine which had been mauled in the face by a leopard and the blissful interactions of two leopard sweethearts coloured this rare sighting by Joane Smit and Gina Levy in the Kruger National Park.
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The sighting happened in the reserve’s H1-4.
Male leopard spotted walking in the road
Gina and Joane described how they had been driving back to the Satara camp in the park after their afternoon drive when they first spotted a male leopard.
The magnificent creature was walking in the road and clearly visible.
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With a leopard out in the open, they quickly stopped their vehicle.
The leopard had attracted the attention of other game viewers who shared in their delight at having come across something so spectacular.
They said that initially the leopard disappeared for a while, appearing to stalk something. They soon heard a loud cry and two porcupines came running onto the road. It seemed that the male leopard had taken on the porcupines and in the process, ripped the face off one of them.
Miraculously, the porcupine continued to walk around, alongside its mate, another adult porcupine.
Having been chased onto the road, the porcupine pair stood close together with their quills facing towards the outside, as a protective barrier.
It was only when one of them turned towards the direction of the camera that it became evident it had had its face mauled by the leopard. This was a heartrending sight, however the porcupine continued to move with its partner in spite of its injuries.
Female leopard appears on road
Around this time, a second, female, leopard appeared. She walked down the road, seeing the male leopard.
Leopards mate in nearby bushes
The story took yet another interesting turn. The ladies explained: “The male then walked off to the side of the road and the other leopard walked up to him. They processed to mate.”
The clever porcupines saw this as an opportunity to make a getaway. There tiny legs ran as fast as they could, as they followed one another across the road.
However, the male leopard wasn’t completely distracted by his female sweetheart. He kept an eye on the porcupines, in spite of his interactions with the female.
Porcupines make a run for it
As witnesses explained: “While they (the leopards) were mating, the porcupines decided to try and get away from danger. When the leopards realised that the porcupines were trying to get away they gave chase.”
The two leopards split up the two porcupines and the male leopard chased the injured porcupine further into the bush. He waited for the female leopard to come closer to him where they proceeded to mate again.
Unfortunately, it was hard to determine the fate of the porcupines. The ladies and their families had to leave the sighting to return to the camp before the gates closed. “As we were leaving someone stopped near us to ask what we saw and we told them we had seen two leopards around 18km north of Satara.”