The dry season means rivers run dry and leave a shrinking space for fish to swim; this makes it easy for predators to hunt, but one leopard got quite the surprise hunting catfish.
Greater Kruger, South Africa (24 May 2022) – A young leopard learned what it was like to be catfished by a hippo… The leopard traded in the safety of a grassland hunt for easy pickings in a drying river and found herself with quite the shock.
Past and current MalaMala guides Mike Kirkman and Pieter van Wyk, respectively, share this incredible story with LatestSightings.com after watching a leopard get surprised by a hippo.
“This female leopard was hunting for catfish one evening, as the water holes are drying up now – heading into the dry season. Whilst hunting at night, the hippo was out of the water – or in this case – mud, as hippos forage and graze at night.”
She returned the next day to catch more fish and realised she was not the only master of disguise in the bush.
“Little did she know, a hippo was wallowing in the very same area.”
The hippo, totally camouflaged by the thick sticky mud, didn’t love the idea of the leopard getting so close and made its presence known.
The moment caught us off-guard, and to see the sheer mass of that hippo so close to the leopard really got our blood pumping. Thankfully neither hippo nor leopard was harmed during the encounter, save a little humiliation on the leopard’s part.
Catfishing is not as graceful as normal hunting, but it is a sure thing! Take a look at the incredible sighting below.
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