ROLLERCOASTER ON A ROLL

The afternoon looked promising. As it was hot and dry, we were expecting to see large herds of animals near the river. We headed to one of my favorite areas, the eastern bank, and drove along the river’s edge. The banks of the sand river, here, are held together by the roots of the Jackalberry, Leadwood and Weeping Boer Bean trees that grow along the water's edge. Whilst we were diving under one of these huge, majestic trees, Jorum called to me to go back. "Leopard," he whispered faintly to me. Sure enough, high up in the branches of a tree a female Rollercoaster leopard was sitting! Shortly after arriving on site, she descended from the tree and headed straight for the reed beds. We followed her into the reed beds, hoping to catch a glimpse of this beautiful leopard as she slunk away. Several metres away, a male bush buck limped through the reeds and we knew we were about to witness something most people dream of seeing, the live hunt! We re-positioned ourselves to get a better look. The bushbuck notices the female who was now ready to strike. Her shoulders were hunched as she waited for the perfect moment to launch her attack. Suddenly in a split second, she was off and we heard a crashing in the reeds. We raced around to find that the leopard had caught the hapless animal and was trying to suffocate it. After a few minutes of struggle, the eyes of the bushbuck glazed over and the leopard began to drag her prize kill into the reeds. We stayed with her for a while, savoring her victory and listening to her crunch the bones and gristle as she filled her belly.

Posted: Kirkman's Kamp by Anton Walker, Date: 3 September 2010