One evening we were looking for a leopard in an area where we were sure there was one. As we were looking for signs of leopard we stopped and observed normal plains game as well. We saw a Duiker (a small antelope) in the bush and when we stopped I told the guests that this animal is a guaranteed runaway, they always run when we stop the cruiser. As I predicted, the animal took off deeper into the bush.

We switched on the vehicle and drove a few meters further and then we heard the screaming sound of the Duiker. There it was, a Leopard had killed the duiker that we just saw. We turned aroun as fast as possible and went into the direction of the sound. Through the bushes and through the trees we drove. How we got in there, I don’t know.

There it was. To our amazement, a Leopard ha not killed the Duiker, but a big python. It was busy smothering the duiker with its muscular body around the small antelope. This is something one may see once in a lifetime. What an amazing sighting it was. We were so amazed by this and just to put the cherry on top, as we left this sighting, just a few hundred meters from this spot we saw two leopards.

What a night!

By Janco Du Plessis
17/06/2012