Quick Take
- A leopard’s incredible climbing skill was no match for a monkey’s agility in this jaw-dropping chase through the treetops.
- Leopards usually hunt on the ground, making this high-risk aerial pursuit especially unusual.
- Even expert climbers can miscalculate, and this leopard’s split-second mistake led to a stunning fall caught on camera.
Leopards are known for their sure-footed climbing abilities and agility, but the individual in this clip got far too carried away! It was chasing a monkey through some branches and forgot that it was a big cat and not a small primate. Both animals fling themselves from the heights of a tree. While the monkey grabs at overhanging branches with its forelimbs, the leopard realizes too late that it has no such ability! In the first clip, the leopard drops like a stone. In the second, it manages to grab the monkey on the way down. Perhaps the big cat had a soft landing plus a meal!
Watch the Acrobatics Now
How Do Leopards Normally Hunt?
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Leopards are normally most active at dusk and dawn or at night and are usually alone. They hunt in a particular territory, which they mark with scents. What we see in this clip is highly unusual behavior. Leopards usually hunt on the ground using a stalk-and-ambush approach, though they are also capable climbers and may rest, feed, or occasionally ambush prey from trees.
Leopards use a stalk and ambush approach to hunting. They are also willing to take part in a short chase, but as the chase distance increases, the likelihood of success diminishes. Once it has been secured, the prey is typically killed with a bite to the throat, while smaller prey may be killed with a bite to the back of the neck.
How Confident Are Leopards in Trees?
Leopards move with great confidence in trees but not quite as confidently as a monkey! They climb extremely well, making the most of their special adaptations. Leopards have powerful forequarters and enlarged scapulas (shoulder blades), which help them gain lift. They also know how to coordinate the movement of their bodies’ front and rear so they can ascend and descend quickly. Leopards can even spring vertically!
However, these skills are not just used for the occasional hunting expedition at height. They use them to drag their carcasses into trees to keep them safe from other predators. They may also hide them in thick undergrowth.
Leopards do sometimes lose cached kills to kleptoparasitism, but research suggests the rate is far lower than two out of three. One Panthera summary reports that leopards lose around 20% of kills overall, and hoisting prey into trees helps reduce theft by scavengers such as hyenas.
