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Leopards killing Warthog & other prey; from the old site!
Topic Started: Jan 13 2012, 09:26 PM (17,083 Views)
Taipan
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1977marc
 
AnimalsWild: African Wildlife Images
Safari Notes: Leopard kill - Little Vumbura
By: Mark Levy, 24th May 2006

One morning, we took a boat from the Little Vumbura camp in the Okavango Delta to our Landrover and set off for an exciting early morning game drive. During our four day stay, we hadn't seen a leopard yet and had our eyes peeled for 'spoor' (tracks) in the road. Sure enough we saw signs of a leopard, being tracked by lions.After searching in vain we crossed a floodplain and found another set of leopard tracks - a big male - and after a mile these seemed to disappear. The leopard had left the road.

A francolin calling deep in the bush caught our attention, and sure enough, when we went to investigate, there was a beautiful mature male leopard patiently sitting next to a hole in the ground which we assumed housed a warthog family.



We waited with him and our patience was rewarded when a large female warthog came hurtling out of the hole with the leopard in hot pursuit.

Initially underneath the warthog, the leopard then flipped her over onto her back, and with his left front paw, held the front right leg of the warthog and sank his teeth into the warthog's epigastrium - that is into the flesh just below the breastbone and into the heart.



This leopard was clearly avoiding the warthogs sharp tusks and hooves by using this particular method. We later learned that he had perfected this particular method.



The warthog struggled valiantly but to no avail. The leopard grimly hung on and eventually prevailed and then dragged the body into thick bushes.



The killing was gruesome but also fascinating to witness at such close quarters. After working so hard and risking so much, we felt the leopard deserved to eat.


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Taipan
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Leopard Hunts Crocodile

Date: Monday, February 11, 2008

Producer: Ronnie Watt
E-mail: veldfocus@iafrica.com

Never say you have seen it all! Never say that a leopard does not have the power to overwhelm an adult crocodile!
After attacking and catching a crocodile, the leopard drags it onto the shore where they wrestle in the dry dirt. The crocodile thrashed about, snaps its jaws and claws at the leopard’s belly. The croc is bigger than the leopard.. and more powerful but not nearly as agile as the cat. Throughout the struggle the leopard maintains its grip on the side of the croc’s throat. Agility allows it to exploit an opportunity to flip the croc on its back and in this position the croc was just about helpless. Its tail, a lethal weapon, can no longer bother the cat. Nor can it propel the croc forward or help anchor it. And with little further effort, it is killed.

http://www.5050.co.za/inserts.asp?ID=8222

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Taipan
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Leopard savaging a crocodile caught on camera
Last Updated: 6:01pm BST 18/07/2008

The astonishing spectacle of a leopard savaging a crocodile has been captured for the first time on camera.

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A series of incredible pictures taken at a South African game reserve document the first known time that a leopard has taken on and defeated one of the fearsome reptiles.

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The photographs were taken by Hal Brindley, an American wildlife photographer, who was supposed to be taking pictures of hippos from his car in the Kruger National Park.

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The giant cat raced out of cover provided by scrub and bushes to surprise the crocodile, which was swimming nearby.

A terrible and bloody struggle ensued. Eventually, onlookers were amazed to see the leopard drag the crocodile from the water as the reptile fought back.

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With the crocodile snapping its powerful jaws furiously, the two animals somersaulted and grappled. Despite the crocodile's huge weight and strength, the leopard had the upper hand catching its prey by the throat.

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Eventually the big cat was able to sit on top of the reptile and suffocate it.

In the past, there have been reports of crocodiles killing leopards, but this is believed to the first time that the reverse scenario has been observed.

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Mr Brindley said: 'I asked many rangers in South Africa if they had ever heard of anything like this and they all said no.

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"It just doesn't make sense. The meat you get out of a crocodile is just not worth the risk it takes a predator to acquire. The whole scene happened in the course of about 5 minutes. Then the leopard was gone.

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"I drove away, elated in disbelief. It may have been the most amazing thing I've ever seen."

Ellie Rose, a reptile keeper at London Zoo, said: "Normally, crocodiles are well able to defend themselves against attack. I can't think of any examples of this happening before."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/07/18/ealeopard118.xml
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Taipan
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Leopard pirates impala lamb kill from python
02 Apr 2007
Location: Tubu Tree, NG 25, Botswana
Date: March 2007
Observers: Victor Horatius

It has been my privilege to be part of a once in a lifetime sighting of a female leopard taking an impala lamb away from a rather large African Rock Python. The python was unfortunately killed in the process, but that is Africa at its best for you.

We were lucky enough to locate a large Southern African Python in the process of constricting an approximately four month old impala lamb. The lamb had not yet succumbed to the python and while the large snake was in the throes of the kill, a female leopard heard the commotion and came over to investigate.

Her initially cautious curiosity soon developed into an almost nonchalant execution of her plan. She casually approached the python, sensing that it was practically incapacitated as a result of its scales being wound around the impala, located the head and, in a blur of motion, grabbed the python and killed it. Having achieved this, the leopard then latched onto the still-alive impala and dragged it off while it was still kicking, only shortly thereafter settling down to actually kill the young antelope. At this stage the male leopard cub (almost a subadult) came in and commandeered the carcass snarling at his mother and slightly smaller sister who by now were all in the vicinity. As he proceeded to feed on the impala carcass the mother returned to the python and over the course of the next hour and a half various guests enjoyed a phenomenal sighting of the three leopards and their two kills.


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http://www.wilderness-safaris.com/news/camp_news_detail.jsp?newsItem=4338
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Taipan
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Leopard v Bull Eland

"Elliot (in Cullen 1969) was shown a fully grown Eland Bull that was killled by a large leopard. By back-tracking he found the Eland was one of a herd that was passing along a track in a cedar forest.

[blockquote]"The leopard had jumped on the eland bull from a tree above the track, and the victim had at once dashed downhill. The eland had fallen down twice but had managed to get on to its feet again. But on the third occassion the leopard had succeeded in holding the animal down and finally killing it. In the downhill rush and whole struggle the leopard had lost a lot of hair on trees and bushes. It had seemed that the leopard had managed to kill the eland by biting into the windpipe area, and suffocation was thought to be the main cause of death. Damage to the elands neck vertabrae must have occured during its repeated falls. While the only tooth marks were on the elands throat, there were many claw marks on the flanks, and it seemed the leopard had been on top of the eland all the way down. The warden put half the eland carcass in a nearby tree and - and the following evening - spotted the biggest leopard he had ever seen, with its forehead all bare and bloody. From all the evidence it was certain that the leopard had killed the bull eland without assistance.[/blockquote]

In this instance, the size of the prey far exceeded the normal, but the instance illustrates what an accomplished killer the leopard can be. On another occassion a female eland was found felled by a leopard within twelve meters of being pounced upon; in this case the claws were imbedded in the neck and the teeth in the nose."


East African Mammals By Jonathan Kingdon

The average weight of a Common Eland Bull is 1,100 pounds, with a weight range up to 1,500 pounds.

If it was a Giant Eland, well a bull can weigh 2,000 pounds!  :o

Impressive kill by the leopard.
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Taipan
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From Scottwolverine1111

Leopard v African Rock Python

Continuing our amazing series of pictures from the Bush, here is an extraordinary sequence of a Leopard killing an African Rock Python

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http://www.kruger2canyons.com/news/labels/leopards.html
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Taipan
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Gato Gordo
 
Very interesting, Hans:


Forest elephants evolved in the dense forest habitats
of central Africa, where leopards (P. pardus) are
the largest extant predators. Lions were once
common in savannah-gallery forest mosaics, but
did not penetrate the forest interior. Forest leopards
kill and eat large mammals such as okapi (Okapia
johnstonii), forest buffalo (Syncerus caffer nanus),
and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) (250, 375, and
200 kg respectively) (Fay et al. 1995; Hart et al.
1996), but natural predation of forest elephants
has never been documented and is generally
assumed not to occur. However, a single observa-
tion made in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park
(NNNP) of northern Congo in March 2000 sug-
gests that infact forest elephants do face natural
hunting pressure from leopards.


They quote the article of Fay et al. A few posts back I posted the relevant extract of that article. It is most interesting how leopards do not take larger kill in the savannah because "they can't", but because it is not profitable for them when facing competition from hyenas and lions. In the forest they don't have this competition and they take larger kills.
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Taipan
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hansbrouwer
 
Hi Everyone,

The following paper talks about leopards killing and dragging a female eland, zebra and subadult eland. All are about 4 times the size of an adult male leopard.
http://www.profleeberger.com/files/leopards2001.pdf

cheers,

Hans


Yes impressive sized kills!

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Thanks for posting it Hans.
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Taipan
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Gato Gordo
 
This is an impressive kill of a large male warthog by a young leopard called Shica.

Notice that Shica initiated the attack "outflanking" the the warthog. Although he was was smaller than the suid he killed him after a battle that lasted more than half an hour.

Judging from the pictures, this looks more like a frontal fight than the typical ambush where the cat heaps into the warthog's back.

It is also a nice example that proves that a leopard can be an efficient killer of warthogs. It is a counter-example to the baseless contention that felines exhaust in a few minutes.

ENJOY THE PICS:

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These are close ups of the fight:

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Taipan
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Rebel
 
Leopard kills a large male red lechwe
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1977marc
Jun 10 2012, 07:11 AM
My favourite sabi Sands leopard, Tyson (80kg+) killed with little help from a female leopard a large warthog.
Tyson a huge leopard, not as big as Camp Pan but maybe the most agressive, spectacular leopard of the Sabi Sands takes on a big female warthog.




tyson vs warthog



Welcome to the Londolozi Private Game Reserve Blog
Mating Leopards kill large Warthog

by Adam Bannister on June 9, 2012

in Leopards of Londolozi,Wildlife Diary
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The winter action just gets better and better…

Recently the Maxabeni Female has been lured out of her territory, following the Marthly Male in a mating frenzy. This much loved leopard, aged about 14 years old is yet again attempting to fall pregnant. Her two sons, from late 2008, are fully independent and the clock is ticking for this aging individual. The two males that currently spend a lot of time in her territory are the Camp Pan Male and the Marthly Male. She needs to cleverly mate with both these males so as to minimize the chances of her litter being killed. The problem is that the Marthly Male’s territory extends far north and way beyond the realms of the Maxabeni. It is for this reason that she has spent the last few days north of the Sand River (right in the middle of the Tutlwa Females territory).

Marthly Male and Maxabeni Female mating in the northern portions of Londolozi

We managed to find the Marthly Male and Maxabeni Female in the morning and watched them aggressively mate a number of times. Suddenly the situation took a turn as we noticed that they were mating a mere ten yards from the entrance to a warthog burrow. The facial expressions of the Marthly Male suggested that there were still warthogs inside. Mating took a back seat as the scene escalated.

A very courageous male warthog returned to the burrow and was evidently very upset with the leopards lying around on his doorstep. He was extremely aggressive and managed to keep back the leopards; intimidating them enough to get him self back into his burrow. He was so incredibly brave to fend off two leopards, preventing them accessing his families’ hole. Then, for some inexplicable reason, he bolted out swiftly bypassing the amazed leopards. His exit prompted the remainder of the family to follow…in a cloud of dust they shot out at an unbelievable speed.

One of the piglets bolts out of the termite mound

The leopards flew in all directions, pigs snorted and little legs danced across the grassy plain. But the male leopard was simply too quick! In peak physical condition, this gorgeous male picked an individual warthog and leapt onto its back. The sound was incredible…the squeals and the growls. The warthog he had jumped on was a large female and was nearly the same size as him.

Both animals fought bravely. The leopard fighting for a meal and the warthog fighting for it’s life. The Maxabeni Female kept her distance, initially, as the warthog kicked and bit. It was clear that a warthog of this caliber was out of her range, but not for the Marthly Male. He expertly changed his grip and got a hold on her throat, throttling her in the process. The Maxabeni Female seized her moment and joined in the battle. She took the rear end whilst the male went for the jugular. To see two leopards killing an animal is spectacular.

Once the kill was made, he dragged it into the dense bush where he allowed her to feed. Once she was done he took over, ignoring her attempts to get him to mount. Later that evening he would hoist the remainder of the warthog. In a cruel turn of fate he hoisted it on the branch a tree that was directly above the entrance to her burrow.

The Marthly Male shows his incredible power and strength as he holds onto the carcass of the large adult female warthog. His powerful neck muscles prevent the carcass from falling from the tree

We went back the next morning; a hyena had joined the two leopards and their hoisted prize. She sat patiently waiting for the lob-sided remains to fall to earth.

Close up of the pretty hyena that was waiting below

It had been incredible to witness this most unusual scene and to capture a lot of the spectacle on film. Enjoy although I must warn that this is not for the faint hearted.


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Really nice images!
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Leopard kills Cheetah that killed Impala
Kruger National Park - by Mark Kinnear of the Lowvelder Newspaper
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This is an African story older than the baobab trees, older than the river which carved out the Blyde River Canyon, as old as Mother Africa herself. Survival of the fittest, of the strongest, happens thousands of times every day in the Kruger National Park.

It is only once or twice in a lifetime that human visitors to the park get to witness the law of the wild to the extent that it recently happened .

The Impala’s story
I was near the S28 a few kilometres north of Crocodile Bridge Camp, doing what we impala do - grazing and staring at the passing vehicles of domestic tourists and the camera lenses of foreign tourists. A few family members were with me. It was afternoon and a cool breeze blew through the newly sprouted green grass. I bent down to eat. Suddenly the emergency shout came - run, danger! We all bolted. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a cheetah. I new I could not outrun the fastest land mammal and as I saw my family escaping to safety I felt the sharp claws dig into me. The incisors ripped into my neck I could feel the life being squeezed out of me. It went dark and I felt no more pain.
The Cheetah’s story
It had been a few days since I had eaten. The previous day’s hunting had been unsuccessful. But my luck was about to change. As a safari vehicle full of foreign tourists spotted me and the camera shutters started clicking, I saw it, a small herd of impala. The wind was blowing towards me and I crouched and slowly started to stalk. In a second I accelerated to maximum speed. She never had a chance. The kill was quick. I was ravenous and her carcass was still warm, as I started tearing flesh from the rump. As I said, my luck had changed. I felt extremely satisfied.
The Leopard’s story
As I hid in the grass from the tourists on a safari vehicle, I scowled. Where would my next meal come from? Then, as if Mother Nature herself had answered my question, I heard a commotion a few hundred metres away. I approached quietly and a few minutes later saw a cheetah eating an impala. I could hear her purring with pleasure as she chewed the best and tastiest meat from the rump. My mouth watered. I knew it would be a fight to the death, but I had the advantage of surprise as her mind was on her meal. I executed the attack perfectly. I saw the terror in her eyes as I placed my mouth over her neck and part of her head. She struggled and I pressed my jaws together and it was over. Her blood was as sweet as my victory. I dragged the impala into a nearby tree and placed her gently on a branch. Then I did the same with the cheetah. I did not want to lose either of them to those pesky hyenas or a lion. As I rested my tired muscles I looked at the two enemies lying next to each other on the same tree branch - united in death. Some distance away vehicles gathered. The humans were chattering in high-pitched tones and seemed excited about something. I felt strong, no, I felt the strongest.

The leopard that caught the cheetah that caught the impala. This was the amazing sequence of events that was recently witnessed by tourists on an afternoon game drive in the southern Kruger National Park. Later more vehicles arrived at the scene and were fortunate enough to see the two carcasses hanging in a fever tree.

According to Raymond Travers, media relations practitioner of the Kruger National Park, this kill was unusual, but not unexpected, as a leopard is an opportunistic hunter. "The rangers and scientists I have spoken to, all say this is a rare occurrence," said Travers.
Brian Gardiner, a tourist from Belize in Central America, arrived at the double kill after his safari vehicle’s guide had been tipped off by a fellow guide. "We were all absolutely amazed, and in my 20 years of being involved with the safari industry in east and southern Africa, I have only once heard of a similar occurrence, but never where the host carnivore and its prey had both been harvested as food," he said.

"On our arrival at the sighting, the leopard was briefly seen under a low bush in the vicinity of the fever tree, but as it was still light it moved away. We could clearly see the impala that was placed a metre or so further along one of the major branches from the junction with the main trunk of the tree, some 10 metres from the ground. Lying prone over the same branch close to the junction was the cheetah carcass," he explained.
According to Gardiner, they returned to the sighting the following afternoon, and once again, they didn’t see the leopard, but did observe that only the impala seemed to have been fed on and the cheetah appeared to be untouched. "We were extremely fortunate and privileged to have been close enough to observe what I have described, and it emphasises the massive importance that places like the Kruger National Park, are for the continuance of these and other such dramas, which make up the intricate and rich tapestry of life, without which we are all sure to perish," concluded Gardiner.
Edited by Superpredator, Jun 10 2012, 05:24 PM.
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"The Maxabeni 3:3 young male leopard takes on a warthog sow as big as himself. The leopard puts his own life on the line for the sake of a kill. Both animals become locked in mortal combat as each tries to ensure their own survival. Warthogs have been known to kill leopards in situations such as this and big male leopards will often kill bigger warthogs than this!"
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