Leopard Totem Pole

The leopardess, standing at the bottom was known as Nthombi, with her two one-year-old male cubs above her. After playing, and jumping from branch to branch, displaying their superior agility, the leopard trio paused for a moment and stood right above one another. They’d just finished off the remains of an impala kill when two hungry hyenas approached the base of the tree they were standing in. Luckily I was in the right position to capture the image, because when the hyenas approached, the trio stared together in the same direction keeping their eyes on the infamous scavengers approaching.   Needless to say, only after the sighting was over and the leopards managed to find a way passed the scavengers, would I realise how unique and special this sighting that I've just witnessed was.  What also added to the significance of this image which some platforms described as ‘One of the most unique leopard images ever taken in the Kruger’, was that I watched these two boys grow up and that this image was captured about two weeks before the cubs dispersed from their mother to continue their own separate lives. Leopards are highly solitary animals that prefer their own company almost all of the time. So for me to be able to say that I've captured an image like this, meant to me that anything in this life of ours is possible!  To this day, every time I look at this image I can’t believe that I was fortunate enough to witness such a rare and breathtaking site! This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime moment!