A Small-Spotted Genet hoped a tall tree would save it from a young leopard’s playful grip, but it was mistaken and had to quickly escape via more dramatic means.
Botswana (14 June 2022) – The big cats are some of our favourite wild animals to look for, but they are far more common than small cats. Most small cats are only seen at night, but every once in a while, one can spot one in the light of day.
There are a variety of small cats one can spot, and these include the Caracal, African Wild Cat, Serval, Large-Spotted Genet and the Small-Spotted Genet.
Latest Sightings shared an incredibly rare sighting of a young leopard chasing a Small-Spotted Genet up a tree. The Small-Spotted Genet is nocturnal, but in this case, it must have been spooked out of its hiding place by the boisterous leopard.
The sighting shows how a small-spotted genet would use a tree to escape danger. Had the leopard been older and less playful, it may have left the genet alone, but this young leopard was up to the task of climbing a very high tree to try to catch the smaller cat.
“Small-spotted genets are generally nocturnal creatures – as are leopards. Both of these species are exceptional tree climbers and will often take cover at high vantage points in order to avoid competition with other predators. This genet however surely must have thought he was the only qualified climber when he tried to escape a leopard – only to find out that this young leopard also had a trick or two up its sleeve.” – Latest Sightings
The sighting was captured by 32-year-old private safari guide Rodger Bowren in the Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana. He calls it an unforgettable
“After tracking a leopardess we came across her two sub-adults playing around with one another. Something caught their attention in a dead leadwood tree, which my guests and I could not quite figure out. After a while, the young male started stalking up towards the tree. We then soon became aware of what was happening, as this spooked the genet, they had spotted.”
“I thought it was pretty rare to see a genet in the daylight”
“It was honestly a sighting I will remember for a long time. I really did not think the leopard would climb almost 10 metres up to catch a genet. The genet hit the ground and bolted towards a hole in the ground with the sub-adult female after it and miraculously managed to survive the trauma.”
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Rodger shares that he wasn’t sure if the leopard would have eaten the genet had it been caught. Nature can be hard to predict sometimes. Thankfully, the genet lives to fight another day!
Take a look at the rare sighting below.
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