Leopard encounter

An encounter with a leopard on safari is always a very fascinating thing.
We were on an early morning safari drive through the bush of South Africa when our guide suddenly stopped under a tree and pointed up: A female leopard had climbed up the tree and not only that, she also stored her food there – an antelope carcass which she must have pulled up there earlier.
It was rather hot already when we arrived at her tree with our off-road vehicle. We watched her eating her breakfast when we realized a hyena had lain down under the tree. Turns out that hyenas often lurk under trees to get bits of meat that are dropped by leopards. A risky thing to do as the leopards will probably fight them off when they feel like their food is in danger. This time however the leopard munched away on the carcass and as it was a hot day she didn’t care about the hyena.
When she was done with breakfast I shot this photo with her saliva still dripping from her mouth, exhausted from pulling the carcass up the tree she proceeded to sleep on a branch and we continued our safari. A truly amazing encounter.