Leopard has kill stolen: Video

Great first night working with Khayeni.
I picked up on her shortly before sunset and she was already on the move heading west towards her namesake, Khayeni open area.
Not long after dark I lost her stalking in thick Grewia bush. She’d located a herd about about 6 impala. Why they take refuge in this thick bush at night is a mystery as it provides ideal hunting conditions for the leopard. She has lots of cover and the impala can’t get away in a hurry as the bush is really too thick.

I sat in the dark waiting, as it was pointless trying to film in this habitat.
It wasn’t a long wait and I heard the death cries. She’d killed an adult female impala weighing probably more than twice her own weight. I was amazed at how quickly she killed it. In less than 2 minutes it was dead. This is generally a lot quicker than most other leopard kills I’ve seen. (at least 300)

The impala was far too big for her to hoist to safety and even difficult for her to drag. She fed immediately as she’s fully aware of the potential threat of hyaenas in the area.
Sure enough they arrived but only a couple of hours later. Khayeni on hearing them approaching, left as quietly as possible, hoping for one they wouldn’t find her and two, they wouldn’t find the carcass.
But with their keen sense of smell they were soon on to the carcass and finished it off in a few minutes.
While we spent the night with Khayeni we heard another leopard calling to the east. It kept coming closer. Impala snorted their alarm, probably at her, and then we heard the leopard and a hyaena having a brief encounter. We never saw the leopard, probably a female going by her call.
A lioness was calling to the west and much later in the night arrived at our location to see what we were about and then moved on.
A couple of times through the night we heard hyaenas in different areas squabbling. Probably over a kill.
And then poor Whisky was back in the area calling and calling his mournful cry. It is so sad.
I was amazed at all the activity around us all night. I haven’t worked here at night but I do know there is a lot of hyaena activity in the area, which I is not surprising as the area has a really high density of impala.