Leopard meets cruel fate in the jaws of a crocodile
When two predators come to blows, one of them must, unfortunately, die.
An evening drive in the Lower Sabie area of the Kruger National Park presented the perfect opportunity for a group to witness two predators going head to head.
The Big Five are known as the toughest in the animal kingdom, with strength and hunting skill that many other animals cannot match. But what happens when two of these top predators come to blows?
The leopard seems to have lost the fight long before the crocodile (which is believed to be a Nile crocodile) got a hold of it as it lays slack and seemingly has no energy to escape. It is not clear whether the crocodile got the better of the leopard or if the reptile took advantage of an animal that was already vulnerable.
Whatever the case may be, this was an example of the cruel but natural cycle of life in the wild. And that is how one of the witnesses described the sighting: "We were shocked to find that this huge croc had just caught a leopard! So sad, but I guess that this is nature. It eventually dragged the leopard towards the river and we lost sight of it. [sic]"