Leopard Attack

[AfricaHunting.com]

Don't have much information on this Leopard charge, this video was sent to me by a Namibian PH...

 

[sestoppelman]

The sound on my computer is down. It looks like a second shot is fired after the cat is just about gone. Is that what happened or did it succumb to the first shot?

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Once of the Leopard is off the truck, no second shot is fired... the last shot is the one that brings the cat down.

 

[sestoppelman]

Thanks Jerome, But I cant tell what the total of shots is. It looks like a little puff of smoke on the right just before the cat tumbles. Is that a second shot?

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

A total of 4 shots are fired... Three shots are taken prior to the cat reaching the truck and the last one, the kill shot, at the moment you see the Leopard falling to the ground.

 

[sestoppelman]

OK wasnt sure. Thought I had the last shot right, of course cannot hear the shots so didnt know there was four. Thanks again!!

 

[Bushbuck]

I agree, I dont think they hit the cat before he hit the truck. It looks like they only hit him with the shot when he was running away. Looks like this was a dog hunt. At the very end you see a dog in the background coming from the original direction the cat came from.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

It looked to me like at least one of those shots was from a shotgun and it didn't phase the cat at all. I say this because of the kick of dirt that followed the report.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Those guys are lucky that cat did not understand what a vehicle was. He looked like he wanted to bite the forward panel and then decided to depart when he could not sink his teeth in.

 

[1Shot2Kills]

Was that a dog in the background?

 

[Red Leg]

Looks like a hound hunt with the swells following up in a land cruiser rather than on foot. Based on the shooting as he was inbound, probably just as well - and I agree, that looked and sounded like a shotgun.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Was that a dog in the background?

It is a dog that can be seen in the background at the end of the video. This Leopard charge video came to me November of 2009... At that time Leopard hunting with dogs was still legal in Namibia. Examining the Leopard throughout the footage, you can clearly see both sides of the cat and this Leopard does not appear to be wounded...

 

[Red Leg]

I would agree Jerome. Looks like fairly open country and they may have been following the chase in the vehicle. Another variation on that scenario is that the cat went to ground in that patch of thorn, and the PH had the good sense to put everyone in the truck for the approach - seeing him for a shot before he came would have been very difficult in that situation - in fact, as the clip shows - they couldn't even from the elevated position. LOL can you imagine the view from the passenger side in the cab!

 

[enysse]

That was a terrific video clip and just goes to show how dangerous a leopard is in the wild!

 

[Nyati]

Amazing !!!!

 

[Bushbuck]

Kudos to the camera man for keeping his cool and filming that leopard right thru the event.

 

[James.Grage]

The cameraman was a steady with his camera and this is great footage...it will show up in some hunting video...

 

[ILCAPO]

Whoa! That was CLOSE! I counted four shots, as some people have said, three before the cat got to the vehicle, and one as he was running away, which took him down.

As Jerome has noted, there are no visible wounds on the animal from the shots as he charged. I only saw dust going up around him as the shots went off. I think he simply turned around due to the noise. Wonder if the guys who were shooting had any kind of cage or something that might have caused him to pause as he did (or she, can't tell what sex the leopard is).

If nothing was there between them and the cat, then it appears to me these guys were EXTREMLEY lucky he/she decided to abandon the attack. Otherwise somebody would have been torn up pretty badly. It appears they'd shot their wad and had no chance at that point to chamber another round -- this is where a pump action comes in mighty handy!

In the slow motion you can see there are no marks on the animal; no blood anywhere, which suggests they were all clean misses and the only shot that made contact was the one that took the cat down as it ran away.

By my reckoning, those guys had MAYBE four feet between them and the cat at the point it turned around and ran off. That's probably as close as anyone has ever been to a wild cat without being injured, wouldn't you say Jerome?

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

By my reckoning, those guys had MAYBE four feet between them and the cat at the point it turned around and ran off. That's probably as close as anyone has ever been to a wild cat without being injured, wouldn't you say Jerome?

The Leopard got really close and if they were not in the back of the hunting vehicle that Leopard would have been on top of someone...

 

[ILCAPO]

That's what I figured. Even at that, I don't see what would have prevent the leopard from jumping in there with them! He made it up onto the hood of the vehicle with no problem. It would have been a simple thing for him to do one more leap up over the cab and into the rear bed. Then it would have been an ugly FREEFORALL!

My understanding is it's pretty difficult to actually hunt leopard, correct? I understand it's basically a nocturnal animal and that these videos are pretty rare footage of leopards in the daylight, yes?

BTW, no one lists Leopard trophy fees on their website, insteading noting to call for price. Could you tell me from your experience what the price range normally is for a leopard? I know I've sometimes seen lions listed anywhere from a low as $9,000 for a lioness to more than $25,000 for a male lion. So, there's a pretty good gap there. Do you have a general range you've seen for leopards? Just curious. The skin is beautiful and makes a wonderful wall mount, I'm sure!

Oh! And one last question. Where are YOU located? Are you in South Africa as well?