Without panicking, showing no weakness, the clever cubs escape the clutches of a hungry male lion.
Photographer Michelle Sole patiently followed the cubs and their mother for an afternoon and was rewarded with images capturing the stunning moment of fierce survival in the animal kingdom in South Africa.
The cubs are never too far away from their mother while following her out hunting because if watched from a distance, they will not learn much and the mother will not be able to protect them .
This time, the mother leopard taught the cubs how to hunt an impala. Hiding in the bushes, observing the every move of the prey, the mother leopard suddenly jumped out like an arrow, aimed straight at the neck of an ill-fated impala and delivered a fatal bite.
The poor female antelope had no time to struggle, her throat was bitten off and she died quickly. Immediately after seeing their mother successfully control their prey, the cubs rushed to start butchering the antelope.
While the cubs practice tearing up antelope more and more skillfully, the mother leopard does not let her guard down, watching her surroundings, in case other apex predators are lurking.
When there are few signs of danger, the mother also gradually relaxes and moves away while the cubs are still drunk.
At that moment, a male lion silently approached with a flat stomach. It looked aggressively toward the cubs with undisguised lust.
Smelling the smell of death, the mother leopard roared loudly to remind the cubs. Not panicking, the cubs volunteered to leave the delicious impala meat for the lions and climb high up the tree, avoiding a death scene that will surely lose their lives.
The courage and determination to pick up and put down the leopard’s cub saved it from death. If they were really greedy and didn’t want to let go of their prey, the leopard cub could become a delicious dish in the hungry lion’s mouth.
A Game of Wits: Witness the Clever Tactics Employed by Cubs to Evade Male Lion’s Prey