This very brave leopard thought it was a good idea to hunt a troop of baboons, but, he immediately regretted it when they beat him up in a major attack.
Thirty-year-old accountant and bush lover, Ricky da Fonseca, captured the entire sighting between Skukuza and Tshokwane in Kruger National Park in South Africa on video and shared it with LatestSightings.com.
“We left on a late afternoon drive from Skukuza, eagerly hoping to catch another glimpse of the lions we had spotted earlier, but the bush had something even more special in store for us.”
Just south of the Tshokwane picnic site, a place in the Kruger where visitors generally stop for mid-morning brunch or late afternoon snacks, a few cars were stopped. “We pulled to the side, surprised to see a male leopard leisurely strolling on the side of the road. As I repositioned for a better angle, that’s when I noticed a troop of baboons playing in the road ahead. This was getting exciting!”
“Given the troop’s size, I thought to myself, there’s no way this leopard will be brave enough! But he surprised me. His curiosity seemed to get the better of him. The leopard stealthily disappeared into the grass on the roadside. He was in full-on stalk mode.”
“As the leopard closed in on the baboons, anticipation hung in the air. Suddenly, with a burst of speed, the leopard sprang from the grass in an attempt to catch one of the baboons off guard.”
“The troop of baboons reacted very quickly — they attacked as a troop. This threw the leopard off and they capitalized, surrounding it, screaming, and biting at it. They showed no mercy at all.”
“In that moment, I realized I was witnessing something extraordinary. Unsure what the outcome would be, we held our breaths. Luckily for the leopard, the baboons eased off, and he was able to escape. With a few bruises and cuts on his body, the leopard ran off. Surely his ego was more hurt than his body.”
What you can do
Support ‘Fighting for Wildlife’ by donating as little as $1 – It only takes a minute. Thank you.
Fighting for Wildlife supports approved wildlife conservation organizations, which spend at least 80 percent of the money they raise on actual fieldwork, rather than administration and fundraising. When making a donation you can designate for which type of initiative it should be used – wildlife, oceans, forests or climate.
This article by Mohammed Kathrada was first published by UPI on 14 August 2023.
Leave a Reply