A leopard looking for fish in a nearly dry lagoon in South Africa was surprised by a hippopotamus camouflaged in the mud.
Noticing the cat’s approach, the huge animal suddenly gets up and approaches it. Despite the fright, the leopard manages to escape unharmed.
The unusual encounter took place at MalaMala in South Africa’s Greater Kruger National Park and the images were captured by guides Mike Kirkman and Pieter van Wyk and published on the LatestSightings website.
“When the leopard, a female, went fishing during the day, she was unaware that there was a hippopotamus wallowing in the same area,” Kirkman told LatestSightings.
Leopards are very successful at hunting, and their camouflage is a great asset. “But the leopard in this case was not as camouflaged as its opponent,” the guide noted.
Leaving the pond and returning only at night, the leopard uses the darkness to its advantage and eventually manages to grab a catfish it carries in its mouth by its tail with great difficulty until it can free itself from the sticky mud.
According to Kirkman, the leopard knew the hippopotamus would come out of the pond at night because it is common for this animal to just graze and eat when night falls.