Geronimo! This predator isn’t hanging around for its dinner – it swoops down on an unsuspecting impala from a 45-foot tree limb.
A leopard pounces out of a tree and attacks an impala, as seen in this sequence of photographs.
The leopard then lands directly on top of the impala and starts to eat its just-caught dinner.
These photographs were taken by Peter Geraerdts at South Luangwa National Park in Zambia.
“Sausage tree flowers are a great source of food for antelope during the fall,” explains Peter, 48. “Antelope will seek another type of nourishment when the grass is cleared, and one option is sausage tree blooms.
It’s a common practice among leopards to hide in the sausage tree and wait for antelopes to come by so they can pounce on them.
“I was there for over an hour, and the leopard attempted to leap onto two bushbucks, but she failed.
“Until an impala came in, she decided to take the big leap, flying 13 meters above the ground.”
“The young male impala was dead within 10 seconds, and she walked off with it under a shrub.”
