Animals living in the wild might not consider possessions in the same way that humans do, but that doesn’t mean they won’t fight to defend something if they consider it theirs.
One day, these leopards might have moved on and there might be other animals using this tree as a place to rest, but for now it belonged to one big cat, and another was trying to encroach upon that territory.
Watch Now:
Matt Ware spotted these dueling big cats at the Sabi Sands Game Reserve, and sent the footage of their contest into Latest Sightings. It was all paws on deck for this territorial showdown.
Pushing The Boundaries
Other than food, there are only a few things that might drive two animals to physical blows against one another, and territorial boundaries are a big one. For leopards which live solitary lifestyles, their territory is incredibly important.
Where a leopard roams can affect many key parts of their lives, such as their access to food and mating opportunities, two biological imperatives, survival and reproduction, which guide the behavior of almost all living things.
It’s no wonder, then, that one big cat might look unfavorably on the encroachment of another into their territory. For cats which spend a lot of their time safely tucked away in the high branches of trees, these branches become very important.
What Goes Up
At the beginning of Matt’s footage, both leopards had all four paws firmly on the ground. Perhaps one of them had been in its tree when it saw the intruder approaching and it descended to attempt to intimidate it into moving on.
In the branches a single wrong move could result in one leopard losing the contest and falling down roughly, where they might then lose out in the future. On the ground, intimidation would be easier and, hopefully, more successful.
But then one of the leopards did something unexpected, and took a flying leap into the lower branches of the tree, completely ignoring the presence of the other big cat as it made a bid to claim the branches for its own.
Must Come Down
Such a sudden development was absolutely untenable for the leopard that found itself alone on the ground. If it didn’t move quickly, then it would have no choice but to move on and it might not find such an ideal location again.
With its own powerful leap, the leopard joined the other in the branches of the tree, and there they would fight to see who claimed it. Such a battle might leave one or both of them wounded, and unable to hunt for themselves, or escape other threats.
That they were willing to come to blows when there were such serious potential repercussions to a fight showed just how important this contest was to them, and it wasn’t long until one big cat was evicted from the tree and returned to the hard ground below.
Get our Best Sightings as they Come in
Big Cats Always Land On Their Feet
It was a fall of several meters from the treetop to the hard ground, but the unlucky leopard that lost the fight still managed to land squarely on its feet. It looked like a hard landing, and that alone might have had serious consequences for the cat.
Unsuccessful in the contest, this leopard would have to move on in search of territory unclaimed, or for a weaker individual that it could best to claim a home range for itself.
Hopefully it had not wounded itself in the fall, as that would adversely impact its ability to do either thing. For the leopard it was a bad day, but for those watching, it was an exhilarating sighting.
