Leopard Kills Giraffe!

A Giraffe calf lay dead in the riverbed and the tell tale signs of the attack were clear in the dried mud, a female Leopard had chased it down a muddy bank and there she took its final breath. A closer look in shadow of the carcass revealed smaller paw prints of three young cubs, the four of them had been feeding on this carcass during the night and had retreated to the coolness of some dense bush close by. The night ahead promised great excitement. We returned hoping that she, under the cover of darkness would show herself and her youngsters. The hot Phinda sun started to sneak behind a couple of scattered clouds and as the explosion of colours scattered throughout this wilderness the buzzing of flies and the thick reek of the now day old Giraffe shifted our focus. Our excitement and nervousness was deathly silent. As we neared the dry riverbed and approached closer and closer, the bushes shuddered! A young Hyena cub sniffed the thick air and peered from behind the bush, not far away another cub looked on nervously. Was the leopard close by? Slowly they both approached us and seemed to forget about the large dinner that awaited them and the potentially defensive Leopard, they curiously sniffed the vehicle as we held our breaths and froze the silence was broken by the rest of the clan whooping further away. The leopards had been chased away. The two Hyena cubs moved off and as we watched them crunching bones and devouring the flesh our worried hearts were soothed as Bush babies alarming further down this meandering riverbed confirmed that he leopard had taken her cubs to a safer place and that they were well.

Posted: Phinda by Daryl Dell, Date: 26 March 2008