14th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Primal: Leopard -Kruger National Park, South Africa

My husband and I were on a mission to see one of the world’s endangered creatures- the leopard. After trekking all day in Kruger National Park and losing all hope of finding a leopard we heard a crackle up on a tree and looked up and saw movement on the tree branch. This creature was not immediately visible and camouflaged. Then we saw the tail and spots and knew we found a leopard. I could not see right away so I got my camera to zoom in and saw the leopard crunching on a warthog and looking down in the bush. Dusk arrived and so did other trekkers and they shined a spotlight on the tree to see what was in our direction. The leopard was eating it’s kill and I looked in the direction of the leopard’s gaze and saw hyena running to get the scraps of the warthog coming off of the tree. Primal in Africa- you can’t make this stuff up.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 07.2015
Date Uploaded: 11.2016
Photo Location: Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Copyright: © Georgina Panahi