Somehow This Leopard Steals a Hyena’s Meal From a Tree Faster Than You Can Believe

Written by Katie Melynn Wood
Published: October 14, 2022
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Imagine you are a hungry hyena hunting for something quick to eat. After a long day of hyena antics, all you want is a tasty morsel for dinner. What luck! You actually find something and are ready to dig in when out of nowhere, a leopard bounds into your path and steals your dinner. How rude!

That’s exactly what happens in this short clip. A hyena with some sort of small animal gets caught by surprise when a leopard jumps down from an overhead branch. While the hyena takes in what is happening, the leopard grabs the kill and jumps back onto the tree. It all happens in just a few seconds. By the time the hyena (or the viewer or the woman in the background screaming) knows what’s happened, the leopard is up and away with its own meal.

The clip is very short but packed with action. The leopard jumps from the branch right onto the ground at the hyena’s feet. Once he has the kill in his mouth, he bounds back up the trunk. Leopards are used to spending time in the trees. They actually spend most of their time during the day in the trees and can even hunt there. We’re not sure if this kill would be included in that statistic. But it is still a great example of a leopard’s amazing skill and physical prowess as a hunter.

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The Irony of Stealing from a Hyena

The comments section is almost as good as the amazing clip. Many viewers praised the leopard’s prowess. The irony of a kill being taken from a hyena, which is often a scavenger relying on the kills of other animals, was not lost on many.

“That leopard is my hero. Talk about getting a dose of your own medicine,” wrote one person. Another chimed in, saying “Hyena can’t get mad. They do the same energy to others, so chill.”

Others compared the hyena to a meal delivery service. “UBER EATS HYENA: here is your food sir. LEOPARD: thanks cya,” writes one viewer.

Some even wondered what the hyena would do about the loss of a meal. “Hyena was like: ‘someone please get a ladder for me please,'” wrote one person. While it’s unlikely that the hyena went after the kill or the leopard for taking it, we can still wonder what exactly happened in the next few seconds.

No matter who got to eat, a few people pointed out that the ultimate victim was the poor animal that became dinner. “That squirrel was always gonna have a bad day!” one person joked. It’s not clear what kind of animal it is, although it isn’t a squirrel just based on the location of squirrels versus hyenas and leopards. It is a small animal and could be a similar rodent.

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The photo featured at the top of this post is © Ondrej Prosicky/Shutterstock.com


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About the Author

Katie is a freelance writer and teaching artist specializing in home, lifestyle, and family topics. Her work has appeared in At Ease Magazine, PEOPLE, and The Spruce, among others. When she is not writing, Katie teaches creative writing with the Apex Arts Magnet Program in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. You can follow Katie @katiemelynnwriter.

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