Leopards prefer to hoist their kills into trees to keep them safe from other predators like lion and hyena. There is not always a good choice of trees nearby and the closest tree can turn out to be an unfortunate option for navigating the branches with a kill. This male leopard had hoisted his kill into a difficult tree with lots of small branches. As he was trying to find a good position for his kill, a Nyala antelope, to feed on, a leg of the Nyala got hooked on a branch, making it impossible to move. He tried to free it by pulling and pulling, but it stayed put. He tried pulling from different angles, as much as the tree allowed, but the leg stayed hooked. When he got tired, he came down and rested at the bottom of the tree in the grass. When he felt he could try again, he went up in the tree and continued pulling, but it wasn’t moving. The tree with its lots of small branches was not only difficult for storing a kill, it was also difficult to move around and when the leopard tried to shift his position while pulling the Nyala, he missed a branch and fell off the tree while still holding on to the Nyala. He did not let go. He was holding on to the Nyala, dangling from the tree, just above the ground. And the Nyala stayed hooked on the branch, even this fall and the weight of the leopard did not free it. The leopard, while dangling above the ground, pulled himself up the Nyala in an attempt to pull even in this position, but it did not move. He needed to catch his breath and let go, resting in the grass. But not for long. He stood up and pulled himself up the Nyala again, but to no avail. He changed tactics, climbed up into the tree and pulled the dangling Nyala to one side where he could hold it and feed. It was not ideal, but he could continue feeding. This unfolded over several hours and it took the male leopard until the evening to finish his kill until only bones and skin were left with the leg still hooked on the branch.
