A leopard catches a wild dog and is then attacked for an hour by the rest of the pack, trying to take revenge on him.
Stu Porter, a photographic guide, was able to capture the scene on camera while on a WILD4 Botswana Photo Safari which was hosted by Thru-the-lens Safaris. He shared the story and footage with LatestSightings.com.
“It was the last day of safari in the Savuti area of the Chobe National Park, Botswana, when we were heading to the airstrip. There had been a wild dog den that was active, and we were well aware of its location, so we decided to stop by and see the dogs for one last time.”
“When we arrived, we found the dogs pretty relaxed and inactive. The alpha female, along with the rest of the pack, looked as if they had just finished off a meal. One dog in particular caught our attention as it was constantly looking up into a tree.”
“That’s when we saw it. A leopard! Our theory was that the leopard had stumbled across the den site while the pack was out hunting and was able to kill one of the pups. The alpha female then chased the leopard into the tree and kept him at bay until the rest of the pack returned.”
Leopards will attack wild dog pups at every opportunity. This is done to eliminate competition when it comes to food. Likewise, wild dogs will not hesitate when it comes to attacking a leopard.
“The leopard was afraid and intimidated; surrounded by the dogs, it waited for a lack of concentration to make a move and jumped from the tree. The dogs were quick on their feet and chased him back up the tree. Again, he made an attempt to get away, and this time he was chased up another tree.”
“Eventually he gained enough courage to escape and made his way down the tree again. This time the dogs managed to surround him and began tormenting and biting him. He was lying on his back. Clearly in pain, the leopard became very submissive, and the dogs backed off as long as he did not move.”
“Finally the leopard was able to make a full escape and got into a nearby thicket. The dogs were unable to get to him, and he was saved. For a moment or two, we thought that this leopard was not going to survive. To our amazement, he was able to escape relatively unharmed.
