A video showing an incredible encounter between two big cats is doing the rounds. Thokozani Phakathi was lucky enough to witness the incident in the Kruger National Park.
Speaking to Latest Sightings, Phakathi explained that the sighting happened on a trip where he had been staying at Pretoriuskop.
‘When power meets speed and when stealth triggers explosion, the results are almost uncertain! We were staying in Pretoriuskop, it was during my favourite season where the camp gates open at 4h30. It was our last day for our weekend stay.’
Phakathi continued: ‘It was a very quiet drive but we were enjoying the greenery, the sunrise, the bush sounds and the entire refreshing atmosphere. As we were towards transport dam vicinity around 6h00, boom! – a huge male leopard patrolling and scent marking the territory. The leopard was walking easterly along the road, and would sometimes go deeper into the bush but would come back again. As it was Sunday morning, most guests were making their way out of the park, so they didn’t spend much time with the beast. Whenever he goes deeper, they would lose interest and leave the sighting. We stayed on and drove over 2km with the elusive cat.
‘We suddenly noticed the leopard looking straight at the oncoming traffic and immediately switched into predator mode. Now we started paying attention, but we couldn’t see what was going on as we were against the sun. We waited a while and started hearing the sounds of a cheetah calling.
‘It was a hair-raising, blood-curdling and exhilarating moment as no one knew what would happen during this encounter. The unwary cheetah was walking straight past the ambushing leopard. The cheetah had no clue what was lying ahead.’
Take a look at the fascinating video:
Image credit: YouTube/Kruger Sightings
