Brute force of nature: Leopard jumps through trees to kill baby monkey in India
A battle of the fittest between a hungry leopard and innocent baby monkey in the heart of Madhya Pradesh’s jungle in India has been captured on film.
The exciting show took place at the Panna Tiger Reservation, which saw the leopard hunting the baby by jumping through the tree tops.
The spotted animal readies itself to jump while standing on branches, pounces over into another tree and tumbles to the ground.
At first glance it looks like the leopard came up empty handed, but a closer look reveals the lifeless body of the monkey in its mouth.
The video, which has been shared on Twitter, is going viral with many users commenting about the heart stopping footage.
‘Brute force of nature,’ wrote a user while another said, ‘A rare sight indeed.’
One person commented: ‘If you’re chased by a leopard then don’t bother climbing a tree to save yourself.’
The Panna Reserve is home to numerous animals, including Indian wolves, pangolins, tigers, sloth bears, gharials and Indian foxes, along with several types of birds like the crested honey buzzard, and bar-headed geese.
Panna National Park was created in 1981. It was declared a Project Tiger Reserve by Government of India in 1994.
The national park consists of areas from the former Gangau Wildlife Sanctuary created in 1975, which is comprised of territorial forests of the present North and South Panna Forest Division to which a portion of the adjoining Chhatarpur forest division was added later.
Leopards are known to feast on monkeys and can devour a few in one sitting.
The mammals area also skilled tree climbers, as they typically take their kills and stash them in the trees to keep away other predators.
Monkeys typically stay far away from leopards, as not to end up as a meal, but in 2018, a group monkeys saved a leopard from drowning.
Footage of the event shows incessantly chattering and jumping on the edge of a well behind a temple in Sikar, Rajasthan, in a bid to alert nearby humans that a leopard had fallen in – the well is 25 feet deep.
Temple visitors were drawn to the well by the monkeys’ unusual behavior, and found the leopard swimming at the bottom.
After several attempts the leopard was able to grip the ladder, and use it to climb out of the well.
Ranger Devendra Singh Rathore said: ‘We were informed about the incident at around 6am on the morning of 11 June. We immediately sent a team of rescue officials at the spot.
‘The rescue operation lasted for nearly an hour.
‘It is possible the leopard had fallen into the well at night while following prey. We were able to rescue the wild cat using a ladder.
‘As soon as it came out of the well it ran towards the jungle. It didn’t attack any villager or domestic animal in the village.’
