Lisbon is definitely the “Queen of the South”. This female leopard has dominated the southern reaches of Sabi Sabi Private Game for well over ten years now and is always a pleasure to spend time with. I’ve seen several different females, both young and old, attempt to establish themselves in the area and even thought that a couple would have some success, but Lisbon just wouldn’t accept the idea of sharing resources with anyone else. This does mean though that she is pretty much the only female leopard that we are likely to encounter when traversing the southern section and it’s a very large area, but when you find her she’s almost guaranteed to put on a show for you and your guests. We were treated to just that yesterday afternoon.

We found Lisbon lazing about in a large Marula Tree in the late afternoon, but it wasn’t long before she descended. She was looking rather thin and it was clear to us that she hadn’t eaten anything in a while so I was pretty confident that she was searching for her next meal. We followed her for less than five minutes when her body language changed and it was clear that she had picked up on something, but we were blind to what it was. She immediately began stalking through the bush very quietly, all the while keeping focused in a particular direction. We still couldn’t see anything that may have peaked her interest as the bush was quite dense, but she was definitely sure about her next move. She climbed up onto a termite mound and paused for a while, staring into the thicket of Bushwillows.

Again, she was on the move, meandering through the dense scrub with purpose. I discussed with my guests my thoughts on what she was up to and what she was after, but at this point it was all speculation. We spend a lot of time with these animals and as hard as it is to believe, we get to “know” them and their behavior quite well so I knew she was locked onto something and by the looks of her, she wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip by.

As a result, we backed off a fair distance to give her some space and limit the vehicle movement so that she could concentrate and also so that we didn’t scare off whatever it was she was stalking. At this point she climbed the second termite mound, lying comfortably at the precipice. One thing is for sure when you follow Lisbon and that is that you will get some great photographic opportunities. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was a model somewhere in her previous life!

She moved off again and at last we could see what she was stalking... a Common Duiker. I had been explaining to my guests how she loves duiker and that she was an expert in catching them. They more than abundant in this area, but are not the easiest of quarries to pursue due their acute senses however she is somewhat of a specialist in this field. Of course I had no idea of knowing what she was after, but I have seen many predators show a preference for certain prey animals so it was an educated guess at best. She was now in full stalk mode and not from the duiker. It really had no idea that she was even there. Lisbon had planned her attack perfectly with the wind direction, cover and sun position all being in her favour and it wasn’t too long before she made her move. Like I said...specialist.

It was an amazing catch and I must admit that I had my doubts as I’ve seen many failed attempts before on these small antelopes, but not Lisbon. She made it look easy. Now I’ve said this before and it will always ring true...it is not easy or even pleasurable to watch an animal losing its life to another, but it is the way of the natural world. It’s most exciting before and after to be honest, but documentation of these events certainly have their place.

We observed her almost immediately after the deed was done, moving the duiker to a more secure location so she could venture off to collect her young son and bring him back to the kill. If she was looking hungry then he must’ve been starving!

It’s hard work carrying a lifeless body between your jaws and she paused frequently to catch her breath. As the crow flies, she probably moved the kill about 300m towards a really nice Marula Tree and she knew exactly which one she was going to put it in too.

She hoisted the animal with relative ease and continued to try find a suitable position where she could ‘hook’ so that it was secured to a branch and wouldn’t fall out and into the jaws of a hyena, not that there were any present at this stage, but they are never far away and almost having a sixth sense when it comes to locating leopards on kills. Once secured it was clear that she was not going to eat until she had collected her son. Before she descended again the tree again to search for him she was making contact calls and looking intently in the direction of their usual ‘den’ area along the Umlechwane River course. By this time the sun was already kissing the horizon and we’d had an unbelievable experience with this old girl so we took one last image of her in the tree and then watched as she ventured off into the bush in search of her boy.

We were told later that she was successful in finding him and that both fed quite generously on the meal she had worked so hard for. It’s great to know that they finally got something to eat because it looked as though she hadn’t eaten anything for several days. All’s well that ends well I suppose, at least for the leopards anyway. It’s days like these that make living in a place like this so incredibly special...I just hope my luck continues.

Footage may be of a graphic nature

Until next time, have a great weekend everyone.