Brutal Nature: Male leopard kills & eats female's cub to force her mate with him

Bengaluru, May 5: A leopard killed and ate a female's cub to force her mate with him.

The gruesome incident was seen by a tour group undertaking a safari expedition in a game reserve in north-eastern South Africa, according to a Dailt Mail report.

The male leopard carried the mutilated carcass of the cub in its mouth to climb a tree and then appeared to keep its 'meal' for later by hanging it on a branch to prevent other animals from reaching it. According to experts, the leopard killed the cub so that it could mate with its mother.

Big cats are known to kill the cubs if a family has an offspring fathered by another male in order to mark its territory. But it is unusual for them to devour the cub.

Pictures of the horrible incident were clicked by Warrick Davey, a field guide at &Beyond's Exeter River Lodge who was leading the guests on the safari tour, according to the Daily Mail report. Davey said the adult leopard is known as the Ravenscourt male, aged around four and the cub was a young male, aged around one, the report added.

Davey, 29, said the guests were left speechless seeing the grizzly act.

Oneindia News