On Sunday the 31st of January Patrick went out on the PM Safari with Rexon behind the camera. As the sun started to set and we were in that golden hour before dusk, Patrick came across Karula the leopard and her two sons Induna and Mixo. They were sitting in the long grass basking in the golden light.

Karula had slightly distanced herself and seemed to be staring intently at something. Suddenly she ran at a herd of wildebeest which ran like lightening into the distance. Patrick explained how an adult wildebeest is generally too much for a leopard to kill and Karula would really have had her work cut out for her. The attempted kill had already got us all on the edge of our seats and the drive seemed to be hotting up. However, Patrick could not find Karula again.

It was hard to understand where she had disappeared to as a few minutes ago she had been streaking though the grass right there. As Patrick and Rex headed down the road they were confused but excited.

Suddenly they saw her. Karula was in the road with a big impala between her teeth. She had made a kill after all. The impala was still alive and it was a rather gruesome scene. The poor thing was still shuddering and Karula waited silently as it died before she started to drag it off down the road and out of harms way.

Karula is a skilled hunter and extremely strong and fit. She has brought up two sets of cubs successfully and that is no mean feat in this bush. She is an incredible cat and this is just one more amazing survival performance that we have seen from her.

Pieter and Lieschen have gone on leave and Marc will be doing his reMARCable creatures show on Friday this week in replacement of Pieter’s photography show. Don’t miss it at 19h15 CAT.

We also have a new camera, the Gulf Tower Peregrine Falcon cam, coming to us LIVE from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

A second falcon cam from Pittsburgh will follow soon.