Watch the heart-stopping moment a leopard spots a sick newborn wildebeest and tries to take it, but the mother is having none of it. While the leopard takes a break, warthogs come and try to steal the wildebeest for themselves! This battle took place for over 5 hours in the Kruger National Park.
This incredible sighting was captured by Nadav Ossendryver, 24-year-old founder of LatestSightings.com, while on his drive in the Kruger yesterday with his friends.
Here is the story of what happened: “Yesterday, the 18th of Jan 2021, I went on a drive with a few of my friends, Avi, Sam, Josh, Adam and Michael. We entered early morning at Phabeni Gate and decided to head south in search of Wild Dogs. Seeing Wild dogs was our mission! We had actually seen 7 leopards the day before.”
“Just after we entered, we spotted a leopard in a tree. So, we were all already happy about how the day was going. But, after that, we went for a few hours without seeing much game. It was getting quite hot, and, we were worried that all the animals were already sleeping in for the day. But, in one second, it all changed! We saw a pack of wild dogs next to the road! Our mission for the day was complete!”
Wildebeest Tries Saving her Calf From Leopard & Warthogs
“At the wild dog sighting, my long-time friend and ranger, Jean Graham from Discover Kruger Safaris, called me and told me that she found a wildebeest calf that was injured, and that there was a leopard hanging around. This sounded really interesting, and so we decided to go there and check it out.”
“When we got there, the mother wildebeest was hanging around the calf and keeping guard on it. Vultures had started circling and landing near the scene. Next thing, we spotted the leopard walking toward the calf. As soon as the mother saw it, she gave charge! The leopard then ran right towards us and lay in the bushes.”
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“While the leopard was taking a break, a family of warthogs then came and started eating the wildebeest calf! At one point, the warthog took its tusk and punctured the calf, giving them access to some meat. The mother wildebeest thought she was done defending her calf from the leopard, but now she had to defend it from warthogs too!”
“On the other side of the road, loads of vultures were landing, and suddenly a hyena ran in and grabbed an impala and started eating it. There were so many sightings happening at once, we just couldn’t believe our eyes. After waiting for a couple of hours, the leopard eventually saw an opening, when the mother wasn’t looking, and ran in to get the calf. The leopard walked closer to the road and started feeding. It was the inevitable end to this interaction.”
Thanks, Shaun Etsebeth for the incredible series of photos!
