South Africa. Lions and Lioness Play. Now at an uncomfortable height, the younger Tsalala lioness pauses whilst she contemplates her next move.
From there she precariously regained her balance to plan for her next move. We did not think that she would go higher, but she did. The leopard was now growling and snarling furiously at the lioness only three feet away.
An incredible moment frozen in time as the two super cats snarl at each other from less than 5 feet.
She could not get any closer on the smaller branches, and after some thoughtful planning turned on the branches to retreat. This was not easily achieved, as she did not have many choices in getting back down. Very clumsily she dropped down to the lower branch and from there almost fell down to the ground when attempting to climb down the vertical Marula trunk. The lioness then quickly joined the other female to feed on the impala carcass.
Lions are not the most graceful of climbers, and are completely outmatched in the treetops by leopards. Their vastly superior strength, however, can result in deadly consequences for a leopard should it find itself cornered.
Awkwardly descending headfirst, the lioness makes her undignified way down the tree, leaving the leopard unhurt above her.
The leopard, who had narrowly escaped serious injury and possible death remained in the tree canopy and observed as the lions consumed his hard won meal.
As if this was not enough suspense, another well known individual arrived on the scene some minutes later. The Marthly male leopard, a dominant and territorial cat which had been mating the Tutlwa female had heard the commotion and came to investigate. After looking from a distance at the lioness’s on the stolen kill, he quickly picked up the scent of the young male leopard who was also one of his offspring. He tracked the young male down and knew that he was not a threat and would therefore not need to execute any force to assert himself. The Marthly male merely gave the young leopard a threatening look and then proudly scraped and scent marked the ground beneath the tree and casually left the area. The young Tutlwa male leopard was forced to spend the next twenty minutes in the tree before he decided to make a hasty descent and quickly vanished out of sight. He had certainly learnt a big lesson on this morning.
The Marthly male moves in to investigate the commotion
Astonishing, seeing this interaction of these big cats up close! Luckily there were no injuries, as can often happen.
Safe for the moment in the higher and thinner boughs of the marula, the Tutlwa young male regains his breath.
We viewed the two lionesses as they finished their meal and then continued South on our drive. On the way we met the Marthly male leopard again and followed him further down to the Sand River before bidding him farewell.
With all of this action in mind we then slowly made our way to a lookout over the Manyeleti River and stopped for a break in the morning sunshine to reminisce what we had just witnessed. What a great way to start the day!
Written and Photographed by Lawrence Weitz
Filmed by David Crawford
Rich Laburn is filmmaker, photographer and writer who is based at Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa. Spending his time capturing scenes of the wild and communicating the beauty of the African bushveld, he runs the Londolozi Blog as a way to entertain and engage people wishing to visit these wild lands.
