Leopard kills an Impala

Leopard Kills an Impala

A couple of weeks ago my wife and I participated in a safari at Ngala Game Reserve in Kruger National Park.  Just in case you haven't heard the story of the Leopard kill yet here it is in some detail.

A couple of days into our stay there we tracked and eventually found this Leopard.  Our guide and tracker spotted some Leopard tracks and we followed them them for nearly an hour and a half determined to find a Leopard (which are somewhat rare to find).  We stopped the vehicle and investigated the tracks in the sand several times during the course of this game drive.  When the tracks disappeared, our tracker, armed with nothing more than a radio, left us and walked off into the "bush" to try and pick up the Leopard's trail.

We drove on ahead to meet up with him further down the road as it looped around.  In the process of driving around we actually located the Leopard ourselves.  Our tracker had not caught up to us yet as we followed the Leopard for several minutes across the savanna.

Our guide maneuvered the vehicle within very close proximity to the Leopard - who seemed almost disinterested in us.  We were constantly within about 20 feet of the Leopard as it worked its way across the land.  We drove over bushes and trees to keep up the pace.

All of a sudden the Leopard stopped in its tracks and turned its head slightly.  A moment later our guide pointed out an Impala not much further ahead of us.  We stopped the vehicle and watched as the Leopard crouched down and froze in the grass.  The Leopard was down wind from the Impala so it had no idea what was about to happen.  My heart was racing as we all anticipated an attack.

Moments later the Leopard took two leaps and was on top of the Impala.  I didn't anticipate anything like this happening in front of me and wasn't prepared either.  It was an awesome yet very emotional experience - I sniffled through some tears as I snapped away on the camera.  The Impala held its ground while the Leopard lunged at its neck and wrapped its paws around it to hold it still as it suffocated it with a bite.

After 30 seconds or so the Impala weakened and eventually slumped to the ground dead.  My wife and I both cried during the take down - being an appreciator of all life it was a hard thing to watch.  Words can't describe the event that we had just witnessed.  But during the whole ordeal my wife managed to get video and I was snapping away.

Something I will never forget...

Here is a montage of the attack.

Moments before the kill this is what the docile Leopard looked like as we followed alongside it.

Here is the attack one by one...

Here you can see the Impala beginning to weaken and slump over.

And here is the proud Leopard hovering over its prize.

We estimated that the Impala buck was about 130 pounds and we all marveled at what great ease the Leopard dragged it away with.

Thanks for visiting!