‘I wasn’t on a game drive, but I was heading to town early in the morning. Not far from the lodge, I spotted a hyena that seemed a bit sick,’ Dawid recounted. Predators like hyenas become vulnerable when they’re unwell, making them targets for other predators.
‘On my way back from town in the afternoon, I noticed some drag marks on the road near where I had originally seen the hyena. They weren’t there before,’ Dawid continued. After making a catch, predators will often drag their prey to a safer location to eat, leaving behind distinct drag marks.
Following the tracks, Dawid discovered a surprising scene. “I followed the tracks to a nearby tree, and there it was! The same hyena, but it had been caught by a leopard. The leopard, being a leopard, really wanted to get the hyena up into the tree. Not something you see every day! The hyena was frail, but it was still a decent size, which posed a problem for the leopard. It was too heavy to lift.”
Despite repeated attempts, the leopard couldn’t hoist the hyena into the tree. “In the end, it decided to lighten the load by eating part of the hyena. Overnight, it consumed all of the hyena’s stomach contents and managed to drag it to a different tree, where it was finally able to get it up into the branches,” Dawid explained.
Watch the encounter below:
