It might be because of the luscious green shade they provide or the perfect horizontal branches, but the Marula and Jackalberry trees always seem to be popular amongst the leopards of Sabi Sabi.

On one occasion, we had the luck of seeing not one, but two leopards in a Marula tree. It seemed to be the perfect tree to hoist their kill in and comfortably fit themselves in as well. Marula trees have several “forks” in their branches and those come in handy when leopards need to anchor their hard-earned meals. The shade from the branches also shields their kill from the forever watchful eyes of vultures, who could potentially give away the position of the kill and attract unwanted attention.

I have witnessed this female leopard in particular use trees time and time again to scan the area for prey. We have followed her several times as she hops between trees using them as vantage points. I sometimes imagine if the branches were low enough, she could possibly pounce on unsuspecting prey as it walked under her.

As with most young animals, leopard cubs must always be vigilant. Luckily for them, climbing trees is in their DNA, a skill that comes in handy when you need to get away from marauding hyenas or in this case, an angry dazzle of zebra.

While on the subject of angry zebra, this tree seemed to be in the right position at the right time as this cheetah scrambled up it to evade this onslaught of zebra, so “the treetops” can be a great escape route for not only the leopards of Sabi Sabi!