Sometimes the magic comes to you! See this video taken on the bridge to Erf 3 at Jacana River Lodge. Our lucky viewers caught a rare encounter with a leopard at work.
When the sun goes down and the world is asleep, magic happens. In the dead of night, the hunters come out. Solitary and shy, and masters at camouflage, it takes a pair of trained eyes and some luck to spot a leopard. They are nocturnal creatures and often spend their daytime hours sleeping up in a tree.
Leopards aren’t picky eaters. They will prey on any animal that comes across their path. Such as Thomson’s gazelle, baboon, rodents, monkey, snake, large birds, amphibians, fish, antelope, warthog and porcupine. They’re ambush predators, crouching low and sneaking up to their prey. So, before it has a chance to react, killing it with one swift bite to the neck.
On 19 September, a female leopard referred to as ‘Notch Ear’ by one of the rangers, must have done just that. In the video, you can see her feasting on her kill with one of her two (almost adult) cubs nearby. Certainly a rare treat indeed for those lucky enough to experience it! Animal encounters at Jacana are commonplace because creatures are free to wander and roam as nature intended. This sighting, however, is special as the cubs are almost ready to leave their mom and fend for themselves. Thus making this encounter with the Leopard family, one of the last family sightings visitors are likely to encounter.
The next day we found a half eaten carcass close to the lodge. A young warthog found it. Because warthogs are omnivores, they do eat meat when the opportunity presents itself. And so, that was the case here. We caught it on camera. Watch it here.
Here are some of our recent visitors at Jacana River Lodge