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I don’t know about you, but if I was asked before watching this video which one I would have taken in a fight, a python or a leopard, I would have taken the giant python. Perhaps that shows my complete ignorance of the animal kingdom, but my money would have been on the snake being able to squeeze the life out of the jungle cat. Of course, I am assuming that the python is smart, which this one definitely was not.
The video of this wild encounter was taken by a guest on a safari drive this past October at the Maasai Mara Triangle Reserve in Kenya.
Here’s how it went down, according to Clint Saint, the owner of Live Life African Safari Getaways…
“We got to an area where we came across a leopard who seemed curious about something in the grass,” Saint shared with LatestSightings.com. “Knowing that the leopard could be preparing for the hunt, the guide stopped the vehicle and we watched for a while. Between the bushes – the hidden creature became clear into view and we realized that this leopard took an interest in a HUGE African Rock Python!”
“It wasn’t long after we spotted the python when a full-on battle broke out between these two amazing animals,” he continued. “Initially, it was a feeling of surprise for everybody as this kind of sighting is just so rare! For a moment it seemed like the leopard lost the battle when the python started wrapping its coils around the leopard in an attempt to suffocate it, but with miraculous agility, the leopard managed to free itself and jump out of reach, biting and clawing at the python. Each of these creatures met each other’s fierce combat strategy to survive, but they knew that there will be only one ultimate survivor.”
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“In the end, the python was defeated with numerous puncture wounds on its body, especially on its head area. The leopard also had injuries with an obvious wound to the right front paw which could be clearly seen as it limped away from the scene. I have never experienced an encounter quite like this before.”
Photographer Mike Welton said about the group’s incredible encounter, “We all had a moment thinking about how terrible it was that we were watching a beautiful leopard get killed. Python constriction is horrible and it was sickening to imagine death from that. The leopard wrestled out and was able to claw, then bite the head of the snake. We heard a very loud crunching sound which was likely the leopard biting the skull of the python. The python may have died or been terribly injured because it continued to flop around slowly. It was probably the closest scrape with death that the leopard has ever been through.”
So now you know that in a battle for survival of the fittest a leopard can take down a freaking python.
After further research, it appears that leopards vs. pythons is a thing that happens on a semi-regular basis.
Also, it looks like I need to get myself one of those leopards, because they also apparently fight wasps as well. That will come in handy if I ever come across one of those deadly car-sized wasp “super nests.”