Not far from camp we spotted this leopard in a sausage tree. Sausage trees drop flowers that impala like to eat, so it is common to see leopard in these trees hoping an impala will come along. Sure enough, we noticed impala underneath. This pic was taken about 3 seconds before the leopard jumped on the impala's back. We had pulled up only a minute before.

I fired off a few shots of the scuffle but all missed. The next shot I got was the leopard suffocating the impala. It all happened in a flash.

The leopard has to keep a grip on the impala's throat for up to 20 or 30 minutes until the impala stops breathing.

The other impala in the group don't run away after the attack. They stand there and bark at the leopard. You can see the one on the right still has a bit of red sausage tree flower in his mouth.

After the impala is dead the leopard drags him to the bushes.

Catching his breath. That dead impala is heavy!

Then he settles down for a quick snack, starting at the back where the skin is softer.

After eating just a little bit he drags the impala further into the bush to hide it.

He scratches dirt on the open wound so other animals won't smell the blood and come to try and steal his impala!

Then he walks over to the jeep and plops down for a rest. Killing an impala takes a lot of energy so the leopard will rest now and eat later.

After a few minutes he decides the tree is a better resting place.

Then another jeep shows up so it's time for us to go. They only see a leopard in a tree and a dead impala in a bush. We got to see nature in action! An amazing way to end the trip!