An unlucky puku
On an evening patrol drive, I came across a leopard hunting. While she was patiently stalking a small herd of female puku in an opening, a large male puku flushed from his dambo territory patch and ran right across her path. Not looking the gift horse in the mouth, she launched herself at the puku and after a minute or two of rolling and tussling, she managed to subdue the prey.
Because of the high density of Spotted hyena in the Luangwa Valley, leopards lose a lot of their kills to their bigger, scavenging competitors. This female got straight to work eating away at the rump – one of the softest and most accessible parts of any prey.
A few nights before this, we witnessed hyena steal another puku from a leopard not even a minute after she had made a kill. It is a wonder that leopards manage to survive and feed themselves in the Luangwa Valley with so many pesky hyena around. Not wanting to draw too much attention to this kill, I left the leopard alone with every intention of returning in the morning to see whether she had dragged it up the nearby sausage tree.
A leopard, wild dogs and laughing hyena
For everyone that has been on safari and returned to a sighting the following morning, you will know how important it is to manage your expectations. As much as you may dream of things playing out the way you wish, the reality is that you might arrive on the scene to find no sign of the previous night’s events.
On this morning, as Jen and I sipped our coffee on the way to the spot, we could not help but brim with anticipation. The intention was to pop to the sausage tree and see if the leopard was still around, and head back to the office by 7 o’clock.
We noticed a single vulture in a mopane tree nearby, which we thought to be odd since the leopard had made the kill at night. Upon rounding the bend, Jen spotted a hyena. Moments later, said “Wild dog”. Here we were, at 6 o’clock in the morning. The sun was yet to rise. Being our first wild dog sighting for the season, we were overjoyed to watch these two healthy males go about their business jostling with the hyenas for scraps.
After a while of watching these magnificent scenes play out, we headed over to the sausage tree to see if leopard was still hanging around.
There she was. The same beautiful leopard I had seen the night before was stubbornly hanging around in the sausage tree, hoping for some scraps in the morning.
Realising that the carcass was depleted and knowing that the vultures would take care of any scraps, she made her way down the trunk of the tree and walked off into the morning. We left her be, and returned to the carcass.
Sunrise
By this time, the sun was starting to show itself. Rather than heading around the sighting to have the golden glow at our backs, we remained where we were – with the sun rising directly behind the animals.
We watch for another 30min as the dogs chased the vultures around, while the hyenas dominated the carcass. As the sunlight grew stronger, the hyenas moved off to find a bed for the day, leaving the wild dogs to scrap it out while the vultures looked on.
What a magic morning, and what a magic memory. You truly never know what you should expect when you head out on safari – but you do know that you could come across anything spectacular at any time!
