| Notes: |
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The little female leopard photographed in the baobab tree in record VIMMA1431 (2012-01-05) had been resting in another baobab about 100m south of the original. We saw her descend, and stopped to watch her progress. She walked towards us, showing herself intermittently through the bush. As she approached the anthill in the picture, this Dwarf Mongoose emerged from the anthill and climbed to the top. By this time the leopard was just on the far side of the anthill, although we could not see her. The next moment she hit the back of the anthill in a burst of red dust in an attempt to catch the little mongoose, which disappeared miraculously back into its burrow. The leopard then emerged, minus mongoose, from behind the anthill, walking northwards just as she had before. Was the mongoose unaware of the leopard? Did it know the leopard was there, yet feel confident that it could escape down a hole if necessary? It certainly seemed to have been living dangerously. |
