The leopard and the porcupine: a photo story
It was early one morning when Craig Schraibman went on what could have been just another game drive in Kruger National Park. Instead, he witnessed a very interesting little dispute between a leopard and a porcupine and he was able to catch it all on camera. Needless to say, it was the leopard that walked away defeated.
Here is Craig’s story:
One early morning in April on my morning drive, I left the Lower Sabie Rest Camp in Kruger National Park and headed down south towards Crocodile Bridge on the main road. After about 3km into my drive I came across a male leopard walking in the road. The leopard continued on his morning walk and then casually veered off the road into the bush. I decided to wait and see if he would reappear, and during the wait a porcupine came out of the bush.
The leopard caught smell of the porcupine’s presence and came out of the bush in an assertive manner. The leopard continued to try and attack the porcupine while the porcupine defended himself by shooting out quills at the leopard. This scene of the leopard attacking the porcupine went on for about an hour until eventually the leopard realised that he could not defeat this determined porcupine and made his way back into the bush.
All photos courtesy of Craig Schraibman.
Previous post by Adel Groenewald:
« Restaurant review: Kloof Street's AsokaNext post by Adel Groenewald:
Criticism of Namibia's plan to donate 148 wild animals to Cuba »Tags: kruger national park, kurger, Leopard, photography, porcupine, wildlife photography
Leave a Reply
8 Responses to “The leopard and the porcupine: a photo story”
© Copyright 2013 All Rights Reserved. Getaway.co.za is designed,
maintained and hosted by RamsayMedia 
July 17, 2012 at 2:09 pm
“…by shooting out quills at the leopard” FALSE. Porcupines DON¨T do that.
July 24, 2012 at 11:08 am
You are right … but still cool photos
July 17, 2012 at 3:31 pm
Does the porcupine actually shoot quills out when threatened? I’ve heard this many times before.
July 18, 2012 at 8:30 am
Hi, I agree with Jason. Porcupines does not shoot out quills.
He/she will bump into you and then “release” the quills
Hope it makes sense
July 24, 2012 at 11:47 am
Superb wildlife pictures. It makes me miss South Africa and Namibia even more.
July 25, 2012 at 8:47 pm
Wow, these pictures are incredible! I’m glad the porcupine won.
August 3, 2012 at 5:22 pm
A very interesting experience, you are lucky and so is the leopard.I have heard that Cats can suffer long and horrible deaths if the wounds they get from porcupine quills become infected.