Wildlife

Predator at Play Amazes African Park Visitors

A South African park ranger and guests were startled to see a real-life example of the Bible verse that predicts “the leopard will lie down with the young goat.” The surprising encounter of a baby impala apparently befriending and frolicking with a leopard was videotaped for about an hour at Kruger National Park.

“In all my years of being a game ranger, I have never seen such an encounter, nor do I ever expect to see a repeat of it again,” said ranger Estiaan Houy. “I felt amazed and honored to see such a rare and unexplainable sighting.”

Houy said that at no time did the impala show any sign of distress or fear.

But wildlife experts point out that leopards often play with their prey, and that after the pair later walked into the bush together, things probably did not end well for the impala once the leopard got hungry.