Leopard with her Thompson’s Gazelle kill. A very memorable encounter with a female leopard in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy, in Kenya’s Maasai Mara. Early in the morning we found this female Leopard (known as Natito) high in a tree with a Thompson’s Gazelle that she had killed earlier. She was moving the kill, presumably to a better place, when suddenly the carcass fell from the tree. The carcass landed with a thud and the Leopard came down the tree quickly to rescue her hard won kill. We assumed she would take the carcass back up the same tree, but surprisingly she dragged the carcass a few hundred metres to a different tree. This seemed a risky approach since there was a hungry and inquisitive hyena close by. Thankfully, she was able to drag the kill to a good tree and she quickly and effortlessly took the carcass up to the dense canopy of the new tree and hunkered down for the duration. What a great encounter as we witnessed the trials and tribulations of a leopard and her Thompson’s Gazelle kill as she tried her best to protect her valuable food source from the scavenging hyenas. A great encounter with this powerful, elegant and impressive big cat. Her strength and determination was a wonder to see.
Key words: Kenya, Kenyan, Africa, African, Maasai Mara, Olare Motorogi Conservancy, Kicheche, Bush Camp, wildlife, nature, animals, conservation, Leopard, female, Natito, cat, big cat, big five, Thompson’s Gazelle, carcass, kill, tree, up, down, fall, drag, rest, exhaustion,