Five leopard in a single sighting on the Sand River in MalaMala :
1. Maxims Male – current alpha of the Sand River Bridge Territory
2. Inyathini Male – former alpha who made the kill and lost it to 3 hyena
3. Island Female – climbed into a tree and watched the drama
4. Piccadilly Female – trod a fine line between Maxims Male and the hyena
5. Three Rivers Female – competed with Piccadilly for the Maxims Male
What happened was this :
The Inyathini Male killed an impala, but before dying the impala released a loud distress call. This brought in the newly dominant Maxims Male and three adult female leopards – the Island, Piccadilly and Three Rivers Female plus a group of three spotted hyena.
The Maxims Male aggressively removed the Inyathini Male, and fed on the carcass under pressure from the hyena, who eventually won out and fed on the carcass themselves. Arriving on the scene were three adult females. The Island female climbed into a tree and watched, but played no further part in the drama. The Piccadilly Female flirted with the Maxims Male, breaking off from time to time to mark bushes and to attack the Three Rivers Female when she got too close to Maxims Male. The last sighting of the night, was of the Inyathini Male, some distance away now and covered, head to claw, in dust. Poor chap made the kill and got beaten up by the Maxims Male.
