Watch a Mother Cheetah Chase Down a Male Leopard Like It’s Nothing

Nearly every person has a protector instinct when it comes to the vulnerable. Whether it’s young children, the elderly, or pets, you are likely to spring into action if you perceive a threat. Well, that’s the case when this well-known cheetah confronts a leopard in a well-preserved national park full of abundant wildlife.

The video starts with a quick snapshot of a map. The location highlighted is Masai Mara, which is in Kenya. As the camera zooms into the location on the map, the scene suddenly changes to a glimpse of the wildlife, where a cheetah is chasing down a leopard.

You can hear a gasp in the background as the well-known cheetah in the area named Seleinka uses the velocity she has been gifted with to chase a leopard off to the left side of the screen.

As the leopard returns, you can see that they have a moment of confrontation before the video cuts to another scene. Next, you can see Seleinka starting forward again fearlessly to confront the leopard that has apparently infringed upon her space.

There is a tense moment where she faces off with the leopard and approaches it slowly. The leopard, not wanting to take the chance, darts off to its right with Seleinka close behind.

She continues forward full force and away from the camera until both she and the leopard are out of sight. The video cuts back to that tense moment of confrontation, just before the leopard decides it’s not worth it, and darts off away from Seleinka.

You can once again take in the view of Seleinka’s courage as she claims her space and removes the intruder. The scene goes blurry and opens into a new moment. You can see that Seleinka is cuddling up against her cub.

The explanation on the screen tells the story of how Seleinka has lost many of her cubs to other predators. The new scene on video is of her only cub left. This last cub can be seen playfully jumping up against its mom, nipping at her neck and pawing at her head.

She walks away in a relaxed manner with her cub alongside her, victorious against the threat. The young male leopard is on scene and the explanation given on screen is that he may have just been caught in the wrong place and at the wrong time.

The leopard can be seen hiding behind some raised bushes and looking around the environment. His tail curls toward his body as he makes his way under the brush, almost imperceptible.

Perhaps it was a chance encounter or perhaps the leopard had other plans—but the cheetah knew to protect her cub, especially after all the losses she had endured up to that point.

Up next, discover how other species use their protector instincts:

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