Predator vs Predator – Leopard Conquers Crocodile Rare Footage
In action of an engine of destruction for unheard of behavior, a formidable leopard has been caught on film in rare footage never before seen, hunting in veritable demoniac cunning and daring to defeat a crocodile — one of nature’s most fearsome predators at a South African game reserve.
The wily cat slams full force into the crocodile. Photo Hal Brindley / China.com
American wildlife photographer Hal Brindley caught the entire grisly and astonishing encounter on camera while taking pictures of hippos from his car at a waterhole in the Kruger National Park, for the first known or documented time in the world that a leopard has ever hunted and killed one of these terrifying reptiles.
The speeding leopard sprinted out from cover of scrub and bush, charging after a crocodile swimming in the waterhole, seizing it by surprise.
Onlookers watched in disbelief as the fierce and bloody battle unfolded. To their amazement, the massive cat emerged from the bank, dragging the crocodile in its mouth from the water as the creature fought back furiously — tumbling, thrashing, and wrathfully snapping its powerful jaws feverishly the entire way.
Photo Hal Brindley / China.com
The leopard begins dragging the crocodile away from the water.
Photo Hal Brindley / China.com
Photo Hal Brindley / China.com
But as the two predators continued to fight, the leopard gained the upper hand as it took control with its prey caught by the throat.
Despite the croc’s massive weight and strength, the leopard eventually managed to sit on top of the reptile and suffocate it.
The croc hangs lifeless and limp from the leopard’s jaws.
Photo Hal Brindley / China.com
Photo Hal Brindley / China.com
The leopard then disappeared out of sight as it dragged the crocodile off into the shrub.
The entire scene happened in the course of merely 5 minutes, and the leopard was gone.
The leopard gains control and gets on top of it, suffocating it.
Photo Hal Brindley / China.com
The big cat drags its prey off into the bush. Photo Hal Brindley / China.com
There have been reports of crocodiles killing leopards in the past, but never has the reverse scenario been witnessed.
“I asked many rangers in South Africa if they had ever heard of anything like this and they all said no.” said Brindley
“It just doesn’t make sense. The meat you get out of a crocodile is just not worth the risk it takes a predator to acquire.”
“I drove away, elated in disbelief. It may have been the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.” the photographer added.
“Normally, crocodiles are well able to defend themselves against attack.” said Ellie Rose, a reptile keeper at London Zoo. “I can’t think of any examples of this happening before.”
About Leopards
Leopards stalk their prey silently, and at the last minute they pounce upon them and strangle their throat with a quick bite. Leopards often hide their kills in dense vegetation or take them up trees, capable of carrying animals up to 3 times their own weight.
The leopard consumes virtually any animal it can hunt down and catch, with the ability to travel up to 37 miles (60 kilometers) an hour. They’re a very agile and stealthy predator, able leap over 20 feet (6 meters) and jump up to 10 feet (3 meters) vertically.
Well known to be powerful swimmers and their ability in climbing, they have been observed resting on tree branches during the day and descending from trees headfirst.
Leopards are primarily nocturnal creatures performing much of their hunting by night, but there have been recorded instances of leopards hunting during daylight, especially when the sky is overcast. They spend much of the day resting and sleeping in the branches of trees, beneath rocks, or in the grass.
They are very opportunistic hunters. Although mid-sized animals are preferred, the leopard will eat anything from dung beetles to 1,984 pound (900 kilo) male giant elands. Their diet consists mostly of hoofed mammals and monkeys, but will also eat rodents, reptiles, amphibians, birds and fish. In Africa, mid-sized antelopes provide a majority of the leopard’s prey, especially impala and Thomson’s gazelles. In Asia the leopard preys on deer such as chitals and muntjacs as well as various Asian antelopes and Ibex.
Photo Lee R. Berger / Lee Berger
Man Eating Predator
Although most leopards will tend to avoid humans, people are occasionally targeted as prey. Most healthy leopards prefer wild prey to humans, but cats that are injured, sickly or struggling with a shortage of regular prey often turn to hunting people and may become habituated to it.
In two extreme cases in India, a leopard dubbed the “Leopard of Rudraprayag” was claimed to have killed over 125 people and the infamous leopard named “Panar Leopard” killed more than 400 after being injured by a poacher and thus made unable to hunt normal prey. They were both killed by the famed hunter Jim Corbett.
Kenneth Anderson, who had first hand experience with many man-eating leopards killed the Leopard of Gummalapur, also known as the Spotted Devil of Gummalapur — an Indian leopard — that was responsible for the deaths of 42 people in the villages of Gummalapur and Devarabetta in the Tamil Nadu state over an area of 250 square miles.
Photo Lee R. Berger / Lee Berger
Man-eating leopards are considered bold by feline standards and commonly enter human settlements for prey, more so than their lion and tiger counterparts.
Because they can subsist on small prey and are less dependent on large prey, leopards are less likely to turn to man-eating than lions or tigers. However, leopards might be attracted to human settlements by livestock or pets, especially domestic dogs, and they may resort to eating humans should conditions demand it, and no other food is available.
Description
The leopard is able to take large prey given a massive skull that well utilizes powerful jaw muscles. Its body is comparatively long for a cat and its legs are short. Head and body length is between 35 to 75 inches (90 to 190 centimeters) long, a shoulder height of 18 to 31 inches (45 to 80 centimeters), with the tail reaching 24 to 43 inches (60 to 110 centimeters). Males are considerably larger than females weighing 82 to 200 lbs (37 to 91 kilos) compared to 62 to 132 lbs (28 to 60 kilos) for females.
The leopard has relatively short legs and a long body, with a large skull. Physically, it most closely resembles the jaguar, although it is usually smaller and of slighter build. Its fur is marked with rosettes which lack internal spots, unlike those of the jaguar. Leopards that are melanistic, either completely black or very dark in coloration, are one of the big cats known colloquially as black panthers.
A melanistic morph of the leopard occurs, particularly in mountainous areas and rain forests. The black color is heritable and caused by recessive gene loci. While they’re commonly called black panthers, the term is not exclusive to leopards and also applies to jaguars.
Melanistic leopard
A pseudo-melanistic leopard has a normal background color, but its excessive markings have coalesced so that its back seems to be entirely black. In some specimens, the area of solid black extends down the flanks and limbs — only a few lateral streaks of golden-brown indicate the presence of normal background color. The face and under parts are paler and dappled like those of ordinary spotted leopards. These melanistic leopards are often incorrectly referred to as black panthers.
Their preferred habitat ranges from rainforest to desert terrains. Although the benefits of melanism are difficult to interpret, it may serve as camouflage in the rainforest habitat.
Once distributed across southern Eurasia and Africa, from Korea to South Africa, the leopard’s range of distribution has decreased radically over time because of a variety of factors, including human influence, and the leopard is now chiefly found in sub-Saharan Africa. There are fragmented populations in India, Indochina, Malaysia, and China.
Melanistic leopards are particularly common on the Malayan Peninsula. Early reports suggested up to half of all leopards there are black, but a 2007 camera-trap study in Taman Negara National Park found that all specimens were melanistic.
About Crocodiles
Crocodiles are very fast over short distances, even out of water. They have extremely powerful jaws capable of biting down with immense strength, by far the strongest bite of any animal with a force of more than 5,000 pounds per square inch, compared to just 335 psi for a rottweiler, 400 psi for a large great white shark, or 800 to 1,000 psi for a hyena. They have about 64 to 68 sharp cone-shaped teeth for tearing and holding onto flesh, but cannot open their mouth if it’s held closed.
Photo Martin Re
They normally crawl along on their bellies, but they can also “high walk” with their trunks where the body is raised clear off the ground. Smaller specimens can gallop, and even larger crocodiles are capable of surprising bursts of speeds.
The land speed record for a crocodile is (11 mph) 17 km/h) measured in a galloping Australian freshwater crocodile. Maximum speed varies from species to species — some types can indeed gallop, including Cuban crocodiles, New Guinea crocodiles, African dwarf crocodiles and even smaller Nile crocodiles. For most species, the fastest they can move is a kind of “belly run,” where the body moves in a snake-like fashion, limbs splayed out to either side paddling away frantically while the tail whips to and fro.
Crocodiles can reach speeds of 7 mph (11 km/h) when they belly run and often faster if they’re slipping down muddy tidal riverbanks. It is possible for a human to outrun a crocodile — the best way to do so is to run in a straight line rather than zig-zagging back and forth.
They can swim much faster by moving their body and tail in a sinouous fashion, and can sustain this form of movement much longer at about 19 to 22 mph (30 to 35 km/h).
Photo Liz Roy
Since crocodiles feed by grabbing and holding onto their prey, they have evolved powerful muscles that close the jaws and hold them shut. The jaws are however opened by a very weak set of muscles, thus being able to be subdued by taping their jaws or holding their jaws shut with large rubber bands cut from automobile inner tubes. All crocodiles have sharp and powerful claws.
Crocodiles are ambush hunters, waiting for fish or land animals to come close, then rushing out to attack. As cold-blooded predators, they are lethargic, therefore survive long periods without food, and rarely need to actively go hunting. When they do eat they can eat up to half their body weight at a time.
They can smell as good as an antelope, see relatively well, feel vibrations in the water and on the ground, and some believe that they effectively use the shore birds calls to alert them of approaching danger.
Vicious Man Eaters
The larger species of crocodiles are very dangerous to humans. The main danger they pose is not their ability to run after a person but their ability to strike before a person can react. The Saltwater and Nile Crocodiles are the most dangerous, killing hundreds of people each year in parts of south-east Asia and Africa. Mugger crocodiles and possibly the endangered Black Caiman are also very dangerous to humans. American alligators are less aggressive and rarely assault humans without provocation.
Photo Tomas Castelazo
The most deaths in a single crocodile attack incident may have occurred during the Battle of Ramree Island, on February 19 1945 in Burma. Nine hundred soldiers of an Imperial Japanese Army unit, in an attempt to retreat from the Royal Navy and rejoin a larger battalion of the Japanese infantry crossed through 10 miles of mangrove swamps which contained Saltwater Crocodiles.
Twenty Japanese soldiers were captured alive by the British, and almost 500 are known to have escaped Ramree. Many of the remainder may have been eaten by the crocodiles, although gunfire from the British troops was undoubtedly a contributory factor.
Despite their slow appearance, crocodiles are top predators in their environment, and various species have been observed attacking and killing sharks. A famous exception is the Egyptian Plover which is said to enjoy a symbiotic relationship with the crocodile. According to unauthenticated reports, the plover feeds on parasites that infest the crocodile’s mouth and the reptile will open its jaws and allow the bird to enter to clean out the mouth (Richford and Mead 2003).
Many large crocodilians swallow stones — called gastroliths or stomach stones — which are believed to be of use in acting as ballast to balance their body. Other suggestions state that they may have a function similar to that of grit in birds, which is in crushing food.
Description
Size greatly varies between species, from the dwarf crocodile to the enormous saltwater crocodile. Some species grow to an adult size of just 3.5 to 5 feet (1 to 1.5 meters), but larger species can reach over 16 feet (5 meters)) long and weigh well over 2,640 pounds (1200 kilos), with males growing much larger — up to 30% — and more rapidly than females.
Despite their large adult size, crocodiles start their life at around 8 inches (20 centimeters) long. The largest species of crocodile is the saltwater crocodile, found in northern Australia, throughout south-east Asia, and in the surrounding waters.
Nile crocodile, taken at the Le Bonheur Crocodile Farm near Stellenbosch, South Africa.
The largest recorded crocodile is a giant saltwater crocodile measured at 28.2 feet (8.6 meters) weighing 2870 pounds (1352 kilos) shot in Australia, Queensland in 1957. The largest living crocodile known is a 25.3 ft (7.1 meter) long saltwater crocodile, in Orissa, India, living in Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary. It was entered in the Guinness Book of World Records in June 2006.
They have a 4-chambered heart, which is especially efficient at oxygenating their blood. They normally dive for only a couple of minutes, but will stay underwater for up to 30 minutes if threatened, and if they remain inactive they can hold their breath for up to 2 hours.
Their average lifespan in the wild is up 70 to 100 years.
One unusual characteristic of this fearsome predator is its caring nature as a parent. Where most reptiles lay their eggs and move on, mother and father Nile crocs ferociously guard their nests until the eggs hatch, and they will often roll the eggs gently in their mouths to help hatching babies emerge.
It has been observed that crocodiles may possess a form of homing instinct. Three rogue saltwater crocodiles were relocated 250 miles (400 kilometers) by helicopter in northern Australia but had returned to their original locations within 3 weeks, based on data obtained from tracking devices attached to the reptiles.
Leopard Attacks and Kills Crocodile
Never Before Seen Snow Leopard Hunt
Crocodiles Attack
Sources: Xinhua, Bullet Safaris, and Wikipedia
Related stories:
Crocodiles have Built-in Navigation Defying Relocation
Drunk Man Attacked by Crocodile and LIVES
Wow, that is amazing!
I have never seen such an encounter neither did I ever heard about it on any of the channels featuring the wild life. I always thought that both these animals were afraid of each other and would never attack each other but yea I was wrong.
Even in untouched nature, need for food is changing orders of predators and their life style, which is same for centuries.
Yes, this is the first anything of this nature has ever been witnessed, Hasan
Indeed Kate, but mankind is doing a lot to affect the process as well, in a very negative manner.
Thanks for sharing, nature is a funny beast. Survival of the fittest at its best. Awesome blog.
Leopards have incredible strength. A leopard can climb as high as 50 feet (15 meters) up a tree holding a dead animal in its mouth, even one larger and heavier than itself! They stash food up high so other predators like lions or hyenas can’t get it. Then they can return and eat more. One leopard was spotted dragging a 220-pound (100-kilogram) young giraffe into heavy brush to hide it.
Gerat post.
Amazing!
Cheers,
Kerrie
Thanks Thomas.
Yes, it makes sense that they would stash their kills to return to them, Kerrie. And thanks
I wonder how the Leopard manage to defeat the Crocodile in water
in India there is a saying about Crocodile “Never mess with a Crocodile in water or you will pay it with your meat and bone”
I think that’s a very wise saying to pay heed to Sunil
Snow leopard for the win! OSX 10.5.X!
That’s some awesome footage. I would’ve put my money on the crocodile – it only needs to get its jaw around the leopard’s neck and it’s game over.
[...] stories: Predator vs Predator – Leopard Conquers Crocodile Rare Footage Mara Triangle Animals on Brink of Disaster Tags:animal animals cheetah Cheetahs extinct extinction [...]
I THINK CROCODILE IS THE THE MOST FURIOUS CREATURE OF THIS PLANET.
That croc looked to be a bit young? That was by far some of the neatest photographs. I bet your heart was in your throat!
Thank you for that bit if info, for I also read how a leopard doesn’t usually eat crocs. I would assume the meat wouldn’t be of much value. Anything goes I guess when your hungry!
Hi Deborah!! great video darling!!! First time I ahve seen something like this, its supposed to be the other way around….
Hi Ramses
Glad you enjoyed it. It certainly goes against the normal grain of nature.
Chalk one up for the big kitty, normally they come out on the short end in their encounters with these awful reptiles. The gators here in the south are now taking a severe toll on small pets that venture near our lakes and ponds and little relief is coming from wildlife authorities. They tend to side with the fearsome predators and not the grieving owners of lost pets. The problems here now is far, far too many gators and not enough lovers of gator meat. Sounds comedical, but this is a fast growing problem.
Ron Russell’s last blog post..Shovel Ready
ii liike diis tiing cuz liike ii just really liike leopords all kind like blacck lepored dey so effen cute well duces
ii like diss website it fun i like blak leopards