幼豹成長記 P3 - 幼豹成長記.UMMU.NET_3

A light-skinned man stands on the roof of a vehicle, looking through binoculars. I had no idea I was going to end up here. Noah And I had minimum experience of the camera and the bush. He climbs down into the driver's seat. So I was thrown in the deep end, and I had to pull myself. Noah drives off. He grabs a radio mounted into his dashboard. Yeah, so Mochima stashed her cubs in the mid-central, and she's heading east towards Mongoose Treeline. It looks like she's hunting. He drives slowly along a narrow path running through tall brown grass. Now stopped, he secures a camera to its mount on the vehicle. He turns the camera and looks into the viewfinder. Mochima moves among plants. You can see her concentration. There's one thing on her mind. She's here to get food on the table. Hidden by the brush, she stalks toward a herd of grazing impalas. Because if you fail, you might have to go three days without feeding your kids, which starts to get dangerous. Keeping low, she moves closer. Every move that they make is very deliberate, and you can see the thought process playing out. A horned impala grazes unaware. As a hunt unfolds. Mochima briefly stops, then gets lower. That intelligence combined with its ability to remain concealed is what really defines a leopard. She continues forward, keeping herself low to the ground. She moves in short bursts, taking a quick step, then stopping. It's extraordinary how close a leopard can get, and how completely oblivious the prey is. The impala continues grazing. I've seen Mochima stalk within a few feet of prey and spend up to an hour in that position before actually pouncing. Mochima watches from the brush. Animals run. Another impala watches as Mochima wrestles with her prey. She lies on her back, her jaws clamped to its face. Her paw hooked around one of its horns. She pulls the impala to the ground. An experienced hunter might suffocate its prey by biting over its mouth and nose to prevent any noise that may alert other predators. The quieter a leopard can kill, the more successful they are. The impala stops moving. Others gather, staring ahead. Some distance away, Mochima looks around and drags away the large-felled impala, partially concealed by the brush. Leopards can pull a carcass up into a tree to keep it away from scavengers, but a mother with very young cubs will often hide it on the ground. Tall grass waves in a breeze. Mochima stands in a tree, gazing out. When Mochima called for the cubs, Kuchira, as per character, responded immediately. Kuchira joins her mother in the crook of the tree between two thick trunks. But there was no sign of Takunga. He'd obviously been playing well away from where he should have been. And pushing your boundaries in these environments could be fatal. A hyena moves through the brush. Mochima had to call several times before she got an answer. Takunga moves among the tall grass. Mochima trots away from the tree. He didn't really care. He pounces on her, then flops onto the ground. He feels like he's in charge already. Mochima walks away. By the tree, a cub moves aside, revealing the lifeless open eye of the dead impala. The cubs feed on it. The carcass provides an opportunity for the cubs to learn. They each chew on a different end of the carcass. And there's this very comical sort of ritual that plays out where they almost relive the hunt in their heads. They lie on their sides, gnawing gently at the carcass.