Dinner for two: The crocodile & the leopard

To say that it started like any other drive would be untrue...there was a vibe amongst the team and the guests, an excited feel, but of something else as well. The buzz soon lead to success - upon following up on reports of lions in the area, we trailed an Ottawa female lioness and two of her cubs for some 45 minutes. They seemed excited, on a mission of some kind. Our patience paid off as we watched her lead the two youngsters to a huge male waterbuck kill and a second waiting female keeping watch over the prides dinner. Watching the youngsters tuck in was a raw, but  awesome sight, and the rustle of hyenas sneaking through bushes surrounding us added further atmosphere to the sighting. 

That alone was a special sighting but it was what happened after drinks stop that blew our minds. Spotlighting and looking for nocturnal game, tracker Donald suddenly spotted a leopard, right out in the open, tucking into a fresh impala kill. As we neared, something next to the leopard stirred and we came to see that she was not alone. A massive crocodile was in on the action, jaws clamped firmly on the impala's front leg! A croc and a leopard feeding side by side?!  

We didn't manage to get the pic of both croc and leopard feeding at the same time - this was seconds after the leopard scarpered - here the crocodile still firmly clamped onto the impala's leg!....picture courtesy of my guest Zach Koenig

First that I've ever seen or heard of such a thing! So unlikely was the occurrence that when I called it in on the radio, my report was met with comments like "haha, good one/ I almost turned around". The joke was on me however, because it is no doubt going to go down in 'sighting of the year' history. As we neared the action, the female leopard skulked off ( we presume it was Dam 3, a famously skittish female) and the croc turned and charged at us in the vehicle. Mouth open and thundering towards us, I didn't feel much like losing a leg that evening, so I pushed the vehicle into reverse and we moved out of chomping distance. He changed course and darted into the bushes, where he sat and eyed us cautiously. The leopard, not one to miss out on a chance of moving the carcass out of the grasp of the crocodile (who no doubt saw the kill and fancied his chances), came jogging back out of the thicket, took the impala by the neck, and dragged it off between her legs to the relative safety of some denser bushveld. Deciding to leave her in peace with her quarry, we sat for a while longer watching the croc zig zag his way back to the dam, then headed home in high spirits to celebrate our day with a drink around the bar. 

After the croc's departure, Dam 3 female came straight back to re-claim her kill...just a quick glance around for the competition! Picture courtesy of my guest Zach Koenig

Dam 3 female getting a solid grip on the impala's neck ready to drag the carcass to safety.
Picture courtesy of my guest Zach Koenig

Off she goes....incredible strength!
Picture courtesy of my guest Zach Koenig