Esther Boshoff lives in South Africa and is the Lodge Administrator at Lion Sands Game Reserve. She is no stranger to seeing wild animals in their natural habitat. The lodge offers accommodations for people visiting the area to participate in safari tours at the Sabi Sands Game Reserve. However, Esther was not on a safari when she recorded a leopard at her window stalking a nyala.
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If you’ve ever seen a cat in “stalk” mode, it is pretty unmistakable. The cat is crouched and moving forward slowly. The movement is barely perceptible as it works to get closer to the prey. When she spots the leopard, it is crouched just inside a courtyard area.
Esther continued recording as the leopard slowly crept along the wall.
As the leopard reached the table, she panned across the courtyard to show the male nyala grazing. A member of the antelope family, nyalas are nomadic, with no defined territory. They often follow troops of baboons to feed off the leaves and fruits left behind and can thrive on weeds that grow in overgrazed pastures.
Female nyalas do not have horns and have white, vertical stripes around the torso. A nyala bull has spiraling horns that can grow almost three feet long. They are not defenseless but may not fare well against the leopard.
Esther stopped filming before the leopard outside her window completed the attack on the nyala. Although the encounter is perfectly normal, we’re content not having that imagery portrayed in full color. We can imagine that the nyala got in a good jab or two and escaped unscathed.
Please share if you enjoyed this leopard outside of Esther’s window.
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
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