A video which went viral last week shows an adult leopard chasing two warthog piglets through a crowd of vehicles during a game drive in Kruger National Park.
The video, shot by a game ranger and guide, Thuli Mnisi, captures the moment an adult leopard pounces on two unsuspecting warthog piglets in full view of gasping tourists. The sighting and footage were sent to LatestSightings.com.
“There was a report of a leopard that was seen earlier on. My guests from the USA had never seen a leopard and were on the edge of their seats when they heard about this sighting.
Unfortunately, we didn’t find it, so I decided to take the S1 road towards the S65, in the hope that perhaps our luck may change,” Mnisi told Latest Sightings.
The leopard manages to grab one piglet, biting down on its neck before dropping it and chasing the other which manages to escape. The mother warthog could not be seen in the video.
Although full-grown adult warthogs can be dangerous prey for big cats, unattended piglets are fair game and would quickly be snatched up by predators given the chance.
“At the junction of the S1 and S65, I spotted a family of warthogs playing on the road. We stopped to take some photos, completely unaware of what was to happen next. Suddenly, one of my guests screamed at the leopard! This took us by surprise. However, I think the family of warthogs may have been a little more surprised than us.”
“Had I blinked, I would have missed the kill. The leopard successfully caught a young piglet. With one powerful bite to the head, the piglet suffered instant death. The leopard attempted to chase the second piglet, but with no luck.”
“Eventually it came back to drag the first piglet under the marula tree on the S65 junction and began to eat. My guests were amazed, especially since it was their first time in Africa and they had never seen a leopard in the wild. It was the highlight of a lifetime for them,” Mnisi concluded.
IOL