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Agressive interactions between baboons & leopards; originally posted by Gato Gordo
Topic Started: Jan 9 2012, 08:58 PM (15,348 Views)
Taipan
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Gatogordo
 
Prey & predator have different risk/reward equations

First, the baboon (as species) is leopard's prey. For the baboon to deal with a leopard is matter of life & death, whereas for the leopard it is a matter of having diner or not. So, it is natural that a leopard will take much less risks in confronting baboons than the latter confronting leopards. The cats will look for weaker/younger specimens and/or close cover and/or night attacks with little visibility. It is the leopard, as predator, the one that normally chooses the context and the primates NEED to be ready to make a defense in ANY condition.

As impressive as it may be, the baboons defend themselves with relative success against the leopards because of the numbers. This is clearly stated in many scientific texts, for example the following is taken from the well know book "The behavior guide to African mammals, including hoofed mammals, carnivores, primates", by Richard Despard Estes (University of California Press):

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From the same book, the following extract comments that male baboon leaders (notice plural) can deter a leopard, but that also juveniles and females can participate in the defense, so it is indeed a question of numbers:

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More detail from Estes' book explains the mechanism of the defense and keeps emphasizing the group nature of the baboon defense:

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Notice: It is true that baboons make just a tiny percentage of the leopard's prey items (they are risky), but the leopard is the baboon's main predators. This predation may not be signifficant in numbers but has a strong ecological impact on the baboons: it is the main factor that determines their habitat preferences and groupal patterns of organization. This is mentioned, for example, in the following well known classical article, by Cheney et al that is based on a 10 year study:

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This article further confirms the groupal nature of the baboon's defense (participation of females and juveniles), not only against leopards but also against cheetahs and AWD's:

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However, the most autoritative article on the baboon's predators and their defenses against them is the paper by Guy Cowlishaw:

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In this article, data was collected among all baboon populations in Africa on how baboons interact with their predators. A number of features were confirmed and others were found:

- The main predator is the leopard
- Male baboons are most likely (but not exclusively) to put up a defense
- Leopards prefer to attack in conditions favorable to them: low visibility. Some attacks were diurnal but then they took place in thick cover
- Leopards take mostly adult male baboons
- In 4 of 11 times an attacking leopard was killed

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The following table provides a list of observed defensive interactions between baboons and their predators:

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The record is impressive: only one dead baboon in encounters with leopards, lions, hyenas, cheetahs, jackals and dogs, but IT IS ALL TEAM WORK.

Notice: There is no single record of a single baboon killing or harming any leopard and, I may add, no records of baboons killing cheetahs or hyenas either (even in numbers ! )

One incident described in this table (above) is quoted from the naturalist Marais (who is himself quoted in the famous book on leopards by Turnbull-Kemp). It was a case of two baboons attacking a leopard and killing it, with one of them perishing. Quite impressive, but PPardus has read Turnbull-Kemp and that particular incident involved a leopard that was ALREADY WOUNDED ! So, the incident really favors the leopard: being chased away and attack and still managing to kill one of the attackers !

My personal assessment


Leopards and baboons

The popular literature comments on examples of male baboons bullying and driving away leopards (specially females). However, these are more bluffings than really agressive interactions. The motivations are very different: the male baboon is prey defending itself (himself and the troop), so he will accept great risks, whereas the leopard (predator) is not assuring its life but its meal, so it will avoid risks. Therefore, the bullier is more likely to be the baboon and leopards will be bullied with relative ease.

However, if it comes to any form of really agressive interaction, a single male baboon is way below the league of any adult leopard (male or female). I have presented prime scientific material that shows how baboons are effective only in numbers.

True, the leopards attack under thick cover or low visibility and/or they ambush. This obviously gives the cat a higher chance of success (close to 100% under these conditions). In cases that resemble more a "combat" situation the odds in the favor of the cat would clearly diminish, but not too drastically: the leopard (any adult leopard) would still have a good confortable edge over any single baboon male. Notice: when the leopard was confronted the mortality rate for the cat was roughly one in three (as shown in the table of Cowlishaw'spaper). If there was such a drastic difference of outcomes when there is ambush and when there isn't, the rate of dead leopards would be much higher than 1in 3 (perhaps close to 80 or 90%).

Baboons are dangerous to dogs but not so much to felines

The baboon's main weapon is also biting but they have longer canines than those of any dog, however baboons are far more dexterous than dogs. All this can be very dangerous for a dog, but a feline would be able to cope with the baboon's dexterity (the feline can swipe and pounce and has much stronger limbs). The feline has also claws and the baboons lack the thick hides and loose folds that would protect a mastiff dog against feline claws.

The fact that a male baboon can be dangerous even to nasty fight dogs is avery poor indication of how dangerous can it be to a feline.

It is interesting to notice that most advocates for the baboon in ezboard's AVA forum were also fans of fight dogs (or believers in the "fight mentality"). The baboon does look like a dog and there are many examples of them bullying leopards and cheetahs, so these posters take this behavior as "proof" that the baboon has a special "combative nature". However, this is IMO mistaken, there is no "combative nature" in male baboons. What we have is simply the male baboon's willingness to take much greater risks as part of a typical anti-predator reaction.

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Taipan
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Maze
 
Leopard and Lion predation upon Chacma Baboons living in the Moremi Wildlife Reserve
by CURT BUSSE

Leopards
Leopards attacked baboon sleeping roosts six times and made three kills. We were able to monitor these attacks because we sleep at or near the baboon roosts whenever possible. One of the two baboon groups under study regularly slept in the tall Acacia nigrescens trees at our camp. There have been no verified leopard attacks at this camp roost, possibly because leopards are avoiding humans. There were three leopard attacks, including one kill of an adult female (X troop) during 45 nights at a roost 4 km from camp and utilized primarily by W troop. Alarm calls attracted us to three other leopard attacks upon baboons roosting near but not directly at the camp. These attacks resulted in one kill of an adult female (Z troop) and one kill of an adult male (C troop).

There were two incidental records of leopard predation upon baboons. In both cases leopard spoor were found near a fresh baboon carcass, one an adult male and one a subadult male.12 Also a leopard was seen attacking a baboon roost at dusk. but the attack was disrupted by the presence of observers.13

Our records of leopards attacking baboon roosts at night are a unique set of observations and are briefly described here.

August 14, 1978. At 0400 there was an outburst of alarm barks by Z troop baboons at a roost two kilometres from camp. There was a second set of alarm barks at 0600. When the observer arrived at 0620, a leopard had a fresh adult female baboon kill 15 metres up a tall Diospyros mespiliformis tree. The carcass was still completely intact and the kill probably coincided with the second set of alarm barks. Approximately twenty baboons were threatening the leopard from within ten metres in the same tree. Upon seeing the observer, the leopard abandoned the kill and fled from the tree as baboons scattered in avoidance. The leopard returned later that day to consume the kill.

July 7, 1979. At 0200 an adult leopard attacked the C troop roost 600 m from camp. We arrived to find the leopard 15 metres up a tall D. mespiliformis tree in the middle of the roost. Numerous baboons were also in this tree and within ten metres of the leopard. The leopard was standing on a thick branch near the trunk and the baboons were on smaller, terminal branches. The leopard descended from the tree and ran away a minute after we arrived.

July 12, 1979. At dusk (1830) we were attracted again to an outburst of alarm barks near camp. When we arrived a leopard was dragging a freshly-killed adult male baboon along the ground beneath the roost. Upon our arrival the leopard abandoned the carcass, which was still completely intact except for a slashed throat. Evidence suggested that the baboon had been ambushed while sitting on or near the ground in dense cover. The baboon apparently fled up a Croton megalobotrys tree but was caught and pulled to the ground. We collected specimens and measurements from the carcass and returned it to the kill site. The leopard did not return to the carcass, but instead hunted baboons in the trees for another two hours, unsuccessfully.

July 29, 1979. A leopard was at the W troop roost when observers arrived at 2115. Baboons gave continuous alarm barks as the leopard remained below on the ground. The observers then moved away to avoid interfering any further. Subsequent alarm barks suggested that the leopard climbed the roost trees in attack, but this was not confirmed. The leopard remained at the roost until at least 0230 and no kill was made.

August 11. 1979. An adult and immature (2/3 siz.e) leopard attacked W troop at 2115 and hunted baboons unsuccessfully until sunrise. The leopards made several separate attacks into different trees and one of these attacks lasted for 2 ½ hours. During this interval the adult leopard was 10 m. up an A. nigrescens tree in which an adult female baboon was apparently “trapped” at the end of a branch. The trapped baboon gave “fear” barks during the entire interval and remained at the branch tip out of the leopard's reach. The immature leopard was five metres up this same tree but did not actively hunt.

September 25, 1979. An adult and immature leopard attacked X troop at 0355. The baboons gave continuous alarm barks and both leopards were observed ten metres up a Diospyrus mespiliformis tree in the middle of the roost. The leopards descended from the tree five minutes later and slowly walked away. Observers left the roost area to avoid disturbing the leopards any further. Upon our return l ½ hours later the leopards had killed an adult female baboon. They consumed part of the kill then cached it in a tree before finishing it later that day.

These preliminary observations suggest the following features of baboon-leopard interactions:

Leopards only attack baboons at night or at dusk. No attacks have been seen during thousands of hours of daytime observation.

When leopards attack a baboon roost they may remain at the roost for long intervals, and sometimes for the entire night. Two kills appeared to have been made at least an hour after leopards first attacked the roost. Thus, surprise is not a necessary element of successful attack, although one kill appeared to have been made in surprise.

Baboons seek refuge on the outer, terminal branches of tall trees, especially Acacia nigrescens and Diospyros mespiliformis. Leopards weigh significantly more than most baboons and may be unable to capture baboons that take refuge on small branches.

How leopards actually make kills is uncertain. A male baboon killed at dusk appeared to have been ambushed on the ground, but most attacks occur at night in the roost trees and none of the night kills were observed directly.

Earlier studies and anecdotal accounts suggest that adult male baboons may harass and attack leopards in some circumstances.4 Our observations to date are inconclusive. We have seen baboons harass spotted cals on three occasions during the daytime. On one occasion a. half-grown, immature leopard was chased for 200 metres by half of W troop to an isolated Acacia hebeclada bush where it was‘mobbed’ for 20 minutes by baboons of all age/ sex categories. On two other occasions adult male baboons chased a large spotted cat, either a leopard or a cheetah. The predatory habits of these two cats are strikingly different, and specific field identifications are still needed to distinguish between baboon responses to these predators. These observations agree with the general lore that adult male baboons sometimes harass medium-sized predators. However, almost all anecdotal accounts of male baboons harassing leopards have been in the daytime. The relevance of daytime observations to the leopard's nocturnal hunting habits is unknown. Leopards appear to enter baboon roosting trees with relative impunity, and we have not yet seen any defence by adult males at night.14

http://www.curtbusse.com/pubs/Busse1980.html


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Taipan
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Does this seem a bit like BS to you?

When danger is sensed, such as an approaching leopard, the three big bucks will raise the alarm. At once, the whole troop submits 100%, and the females grab the babies and young and run to the center of the troop. The younger bucks gather around the females and their young and display attack gestures outward. The two or three big buck leaders move around the perimeter of the troop, back and forth, watching for the leopard. The troop will not panic or run away. Now, a smart leopard, though he may consider baboon a delicacy, will not proceed to attack. But, if the leopard advances, the three big bucks, with several younger bucks following, will charge the leopard, and they will tear the leopard to shreds-- literally. Baboons are much smaller than leopards, but the effect of baboon rage is stupefying to the leopard. Game hunters have reported finding the scene afterward, and all that was left was mouthful sized pieces of leopard in all directions. The baboons tore the leopard to bits using their powerful mouths. Virtually NO other member of the ape family conducts business in this manner.

http://www.balaams-ass.com/yarn/baboons.htm

Leopard kills baboon in broad daylight

August 10, 2008
I had an incredible leopard sighting on a game drive yesterday morning. We were driving along quietly when suddenly all hell broke loose in a Tamarind tree near the road. There was a huge troop of baboons surrounding the tree and they were going wild.

As we approached the tree we saw a small female leopard descend with a large baboon clamped in it’s mouth! The rest of the troop surrounded it and were screaming and barking furiously. The racket was incredible. The leopard paid no attention to them though and took its time dragging the dead baboon toward some nearby combretum thickets. Eventually it reached the thickets and disappeared from view. As soon as the baboons had lost sight of it they went very quiet and began their normal behaviour of feeding and grooming again…

The leopard had obviously been hiding in the Tamarind tree and when the baboons came to feed on the fruit she had taken the opportunity to grab one of them. I doubt that it was an intentional ambush but this is possible. It was a very brave thing to do though as the leopard could easily have been overwhelmed and injured or possibly even killed by the baboons. Generally leopards fear baboons and usually kill them at night so that they can easily get away from the rest of the troop. She must have been very hungry.


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http://livingluangwa.com/2008/08/10/leopard-kills-baboon-in-broad-daylight/
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"Leopards are sometimes killed by their prey. Marais (1939) described how two large male baboons killed a leopard they had previously injured, but one of the baboons was also killed. A seriously wounded leopard and another one that had been disembowelled were once found beside the carcasses of baboons in KNP (Stevenson-Hamilton 1947) Another leopard was seriously mauled by a baboon along the lower Sabie Road (Pienaar 1969). Pienaar also reported that leopards try to take baboons from troops during broad daylight could be severely mauled or torn apart by large male baboons. Once when I approached a trap containing a leopard, a troop of highly excited baboons ran away from the trap. The condition of the nearby vegetation and the highly agitated state of the leopard indicated the baboons had been harassing the captured leopard. On occasions the alarm calls of nearby baboons informed me a leopard had been captured in a nearby trap."
From 'The African Leopard : Behaviour and Ecology of a Solitary Felid' by Theodore Bailey.

The account itself from Stevenson-Hamilton's 'Wildlife in South Africa';
"Not long ago a leopard was found by the carcass of a dead baboon. It charged the ranger at sight, and was afterwards discovered to have been so desperatley injured by baboons' teeth - the loins torn open and the intestines protruding - that it must have soon died. It had been much too sick to touch the dead baboon."

Olive Baboons in Lake Nakuru, Kenya;
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Mauro20
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I posted it earlier in "Video & Image Gallery":

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To start, Manics orginally posted this but I thought it also belonged in this thread.

Unusually high predation on chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) by female leopards (Panthera pardus) in the Waterberg Mountains, South Africa.
Jooste E, Pitman RT, van Hoven W, Swanepoel LH.

"Leopards do not preferentially favour baboons as prey, but they are considered the primary predators of baboons across Africa. Even in areas where baboons are abundant, their contribution to leopard diet seldom exceeds 5% of biomass. It is suggested that the extreme aggressiveness of baboons, group vigilance and their high mobility when escaping may limit leopard predation. Male baboons are particularly aggressive, and retaliation often leads to the death of the leopard. However, evidence suggests that leopards may learn to catch and kill certain dangerous prey. This study reports predation on chacma baboons by 3 female leopards on a private game reserve in the Waterberg Mountains of South Africa. Potential leopard feeding sites were identified using global positioning system (GPS) location clusters obtained from GPS collars. Over a 5-month period, we investigated 200 potential leopard feeding sites and located 96 leopard feeding/kill sites. Baboons constituted 18.7% of the leopards' biomass intake. The majority of baboons preyed upon were adults and 70% of the kills were diurnal. In terms of the measured variables, there were no significant differences in the way the leopards preyed upon baboons, compared to the rest of the prey species."

=======

In the Cape Area of South Africa 221extra posted this:
"From data collected in the Cederberg and Gouritz region, it is clear that baboons are seldom eaten (<4% % in a diet study). These would most likely have been opportunistic, or by an individual who has developed a preference for this dangerous meal. Generally, it is something of a myth that baboons are a leopard's favourite prey item. Certainly the Cape leopards, with their small builds, would have a tough time taking on a troop of baboons! That said some individuals do kills baboons, such as one of the Gouritz leopards."
http://capeleopard.org.za/about-us/faq#baboons

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"Because of the tracking collar that was fitted to BM5 it is now possible to track his movements. The Cape Leopard Trust was able to pinpoint a baboon kill made by BM5. Leopards do not kill baboons frequently so this was an exciting find!"

=======

This is from Baboon Ecology by Stuart A. Altmann and concerns Yellow Baboons in Amboseli National Park, Kenya.

"(ii) a leopard - one of a pair - that killed an adult male and a large juvenile male."

"Once, an animal quickly indentified as a cheetah, but more likely a leopard, sprang from undergrowth into the group, at the edge of waterhole KB-1. The baboons sprang away, then turned on the leopard, barking loudly as several members of the group ran at the leopard. The vocalisations were recorded. While details are difficult to note while recording, we did notice at one moment, the dominant male was closest to the leopard. Faced with this mass attack, the leopard turned and ran into the catchment basin of the waterhole. Afterwards, we noticed several wounds on the baboobs. Adult male whitetip had blood on his mouth. Th subadult male had cuts on the midcallosity and the left hip. A juvenile-2 male had a long cut down the right forearm and on the right hindleg. He began to limp about 3 weeks later, favouring the right arm, but later recovered.
Another time when a 'cheetah' (leopard?) jumped at a vervet on an Azima bush, adult male and female baboons, some with infants clinging o their bellies, ran at the cat barking loudly. The cat quickly vanished."

...
"In addition, we found a lioness eating an adult male baboon, and a striped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena) carrying half an adult male baboon in its mouth; neither of these baboons was from the Main Group."
Whilst an adult male Yellow Baboon would certainly be killed by a Striped Hyaena, how much they hunt/kill vs. scavenging is still somewhat unknown but it is more scavenging with oppurtunistic predation - the hyaena may have partly eaten the baboon before caching it somewhere. Though another possibility is the hyaena appropriated the kill from a leopard as they have been recorded to do too in Africa whose was the original killer as Leopards are often the most severe baboon predators and were in this study.
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HugeHyena
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We reported last month that the guides suspected that Slender, the resident female leopard around Kings Pool, might be nursing a cub. And as announced on the Wilderness Safaris Facebook page – she has not just one cub, BUT TWO! She first kept them in the hollow of a jackalberry tree, not far from camp. She then moved them further south into the thick mopane woodland for safety. She’s been seen hunting on a few occasions, including successfully taking down baboons – on one morning they witnessed her killing two! She was also seen sharing one of these baboon kills with a male leopard – a big but quite shy male, suspected to be the father of the two cubs. They should be about a month old by now.

Another female leopard, named the Calcrete Female, was also seen hunting – what a remarkable sighting it was! One of our guides, Moses, and his guests were lucky enough to see the entire kill – from her stalking a large troop of baboons, setting her eyes on a big male and starting the chase, and then finally killing him, dragging him quite a distance and then pulling him up into a tree – a performance of incredible strength, the size of the male baboon almost being the same as this female leopard!

http://www.wilderness-safaris.com/blog/posts/kings-pool-camp-june-2015
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pckts
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Sep 1 2015, 12:39 AM
Posted Image

We reported last month that the guides suspected that Slender, the resident female leopard around Kings Pool, might be nursing a cub. And as announced on the Wilderness Safaris Facebook page – she has not just one cub, BUT TWO! She first kept them in the hollow of a jackalberry tree, not far from camp. She then moved them further south into the thick mopane woodland for safety. She’s been seen hunting on a few occasions, including successfully taking down baboons – on one morning they witnessed her killing two! She was also seen sharing one of these baboon kills with a male leopard – a big but quite shy male, suspected to be the father of the two cubs. They should be about a month old by now.

Another female leopard, named the Calcrete Female, was also seen hunting – what a remarkable sighting it was! One of our guides, Moses, and his guests were lucky enough to see the entire kill – from her stalking a large troop of baboons, setting her eyes on a big male and starting the chase, and then finally killing him, dragging him quite a distance and then pulling him up into a tree – a performance of incredible strength, the size of the male baboon almost being the same as this female leopard!

http://www.wilderness-safaris.com/blog/posts/kings-pool-camp-june-2015
Great find, Thanks for sharing.
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Leopard and baboons standoff at AAC
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"A rare encounter between a big cat and a troop of angry baboons during the recent African Amateur Championship at Leopard Creek Golf Estate on Wednesday left Trevor Saulez with a unique experience that he will never forget.

Baboons are not exactly the most peaceful monkeys on the planet.

With their bad attitudes, razor-sharp canines and their fearsome faces, baboons are among the most aggressive in the animal kingdom but they don’t get nearly as much attention as the graceful feline predators like lions and leopards.

On Wednesday, during the second round of the international championship, Saulez got an eyeful of that frightening aggression when he inadvertently stumbled upon a mob of angry baboons defending their territory against a lone male leopard.

‘I was walking with my son Matt and his playing partners and as they were walking to the 11th tee, I started down towards the green,” said Saulez.

“I went down the hill and I was just crossing the creek in the dip when I heard a huge commotion. The grass is pretty long in that area and at first I could just hear, but as I cleared the grass, I watched this fuming mad troop of baboons attacking a leopard at the green.”

The altercation caused a slight delay in play and left Saulez with an everlasting memory of having witnessed something quite extraordinary.

“First it was the unbelievable racket they all made,” Saulez said. “The leopard’s growls cut to the bone and the baboons went ballistic; it was the most angry, most violent noise I’d ever heard. Next thing, it was just bared teeth and fur flying as the baboons set upon the leopard. I was about 40 metres away and scared as hell, but I was so mesmerized that I just couldn’t look away.”

The standoff lasted less than a minute and ended with the leopard taking cover in a tree.

“I think there were about 10 baboons, but it could well have been more, and there was this one huge male leading the troop,” said Saulez.

“They went all out for the leopard. He growled at first and tried to stand his ground, but when the big baboon came straight for him with the rest on his heels, the leopard high-tailed it up a tree.

“The baboons mauled around the bottom and carried on screaming, but they left a few minutes later. I know leopards hunt baboons but to see the leopard on the receiving end of that attack was something else. We all know that we spot wildlife at Leopard Creek and we’ve seen a lot of it being televised during the Alfred Dunhill Championship, but I never expected to see an altercation like in the middle of a golf championship.”

Saulez said he thought about peeking up in the tree after the baboons left the scene.

“It was a very brief thought, but that leopard would have been pretty irritated, so I stayed put and waited for the players,” he said. “They heard the commotion on the tee box, but couldn’t see anything from their viewpoint. Play was only delayed for a minute of two, then it was business as usual, but I must admit, I replayed that scene in my head a 100 times as we finished the last seven holes.” "
http://www.supersport.com/golf/amateur-golf/news/170304/Leopard_and_baboons_standoff_at_AAC
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