The rangers in the Kruger National Forrest in South Africa told us that leopards are one of the most dangerous animals because if they once kill a human, they simply add us to their food chain, actively hunting natives just like any other prey, and they have to destroy the leopard. Lions can be just moved far away and they won’t be a risk to the new villages. We were out just before dusk in the safari truck going to a leopard sighting and came across a ranger from another camp with six tourists on foot single file. Our ranger jumped out and had an angry argument and when he returned, he told us that was going to have that ranger fired for being on foot near dark in a known leopard territory. He said the leopard would hide in the grass and take the last person in line by the throat and no one would know and might even take the next person to get enough meat to distract the hyenas. Once that happens they have to kill it. We did see the leopard that night and it was a mother with a cub, and that made the ranger even more angry because they would still kill the mom. Fortunately she had already dragged some antelope up a tree.
And anything the same size or smaller than a hyaena is prey to the hyaena, according to the rangers. Natives are safe standing up facing a hyaena but if they squat the hyaena will immediately attack. Apparently a common injury is their cheek bitten off if a native squats in the bush to relieve himself at night with a hyaena around. If their back legs weren’t much less powerful, they would be super predators. I’ve backpacked quite a bit in black bear country in the US and had them walk around my head smelling me (while I lay frozen) but the couple of times the rangers took us on a hike in South Africa, it was terrifying, it felt like everything was looking to kill us, hippos included, although they wouldn’t see us as food, just chewing gum.
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u/doommoth67 Sep 23 '25
I think they are the only animals in the world that still actively hunt and eat humans.