Don’t Look Now, It’s A Leopard Dive-Bomb
I was in the Okavango Delta recently and saw a leopard gracefully climb down a tree, at leisure.
But this photo and video sequence from the same vicinity is incredible. It’s by Yasmin Tajik of Shalimar Studios (which is–go figure–a Las Vegas wedding photo outfit; I bet they catch every punch when a cat fight breaks out on the dance floor).
First the video, then the stills, with Tajik’s narration.
On a safari trip at Chief’s Camp in Botswana we were out one morning with our ranger Tutalife, exploring Moremi National Park, when Tutalife stopped the vehicle and pointed out a female leopard in the tree tops.
The leopard was intently
watching a group of impala grazing nearby, and as they slowly moved under the tree we knew we were about to witness a once in a lifetime event. 
After about 10 minutes, we witnessed the leopard leap from the tree onto an unsuspecting impala below and before we knew it, the struggle had ended with a successful kill. 
With the adrenalin pumping through our veins, we moved closer and captured amazing images of the leopard attempting to drag the carcass up a tree. She failed, and elected to eat the carcass on the ground instead. 
The scene continued to unfold in front of us, as she tore into the flesh of the impala, enjoying the spoils. She then made a second attempt to drag the carcass up into a tree, but the weight of both the leopard and carcass were too heavy for the branches and both subsequently fell to the ground. 
It was at that point that the leopard opted to hide the impala carcass behind her and nap in the cool shade. 
The opportunity to capture the entire scene unfolding right in front of me was pure luck. A big thank you to our ranger Tutalife for his excellent tracking skills.
