Leopards at Ivory Wilderness

Completing our trifecta of predator fun, I now present to you leopards finishing their antelope meals at Ivory Wilderness.

Leopard biting duiker head

On our first evening game drive at Ivory Wilderness, our guide was cagey about what we were about to see. For all the fun we had at Makuleke, we only had brief glimpses of predators (hyenas) with no big cats. Our first stop was to see the lions eating the giraffe, and after that we went across the ravine to visit a lone tree at sunset where a leopard was finishing off a duiker.

Not unexpected was a hyena visitor, as the leopard will sometimes drop parts from the tree and not bother to fetch. Leopards are solitary hunters and hyenas are their nemesis: they immediately seek a tree to pull their kill up to and keep away potential thiefs.

This one was getting final good bits from the head and eventually came down out of the tree to get some water.

Leopard in tree with antelope

Our next viewing was a leopard finishing an impala in a tree near a watering hole housing a single hippo and a single grebe. But boy did the visitors come! Eleven giraffes, three hyenas, and quite a few birds. They were all very cautious (our vehicle there might have contributed) but it didn’t stop the giraffes from drinking.

This leopard was also finishing their meal and eventually dropped out of the tree, wandering over the nearby dam for a rest.

Here’s another video with some live action: