The Leopard shown below, was killed after it attacked the hounds man in a well known area not far from us here in the Eastern Cape. The hounds man was running a Jackal pack of hounds, when the dogs picked up the scent of the cat. The very large tom, obviously agitated by the hounds, attacked.
The cat was dispatched by one of the members in the party, no doubt saving the hounds man's life.

There is no doubt that there will an investigation from Nature Conservation, but seeing the wounds to the individual, in my opinion, should be the end of the investigation. No doubt that this man would not be here today, had it not been for the quick reaction of the first responder. It takes a certain type of strong individual to respond to these situations, and the world needs more of them. A special mention to him for acting swiftly and saving this man's life.

The cat weighed a whopping 111kg, or 244lbs. I have heard that this is the second incident in the Eastern Cape of the exact same nature, proving that the population of Leopard is healthy down here, and maybe time by the authorities to start rethinking, not only the hold off on permits for the country as a whole, but also permits for the Eastern Cape.







Wishing the injured man a speedy recovery.

Holy cow....

+2 for a speedy recovery for the injured gentleman.

A dang big leopard also!

Wonder if anyone has records of the heaviest cats in history. At 111kg, he'll be up there.

Ouch!

Yikes! Hope he recovers soon.

wow - thanks for sharing an wishing a speedy recovery to the Hounds man

+3, and yes, you can tell that fat bastid wasn't hungry, just plain mean.

Dayummmm! Badass creature those things are.

I would remain absolutely next to pure dead calm getting a shot off at a treeded leopard over bait JG, Damn, if there's ever been a case for doing it right the first time.

244 pounds? That's right up with typical Jaguar weight isn't it? Big danged critter!

Hoping that houndsman fellow heals up well. He took a hit!

Guy

Ain't that the truth! Might feel a little pressure, at least I would.

You bet Sir, I'll face that call one day.

Man, that's one fat cat.

The hound man will be looking at extensive plastic surgery. Some of those terrible looking wounds actually turn out pretty well. Nerve damage may be an issue, looks like he lost some muscle tone around his left eye.

DF

Pardon my ignorance, but what does a leopard hunt cost on average?

10-12 might do it

Not with hounds it wont. You cant even hunt leopard legally in RSA right now. The only place you can legally hunt them with hounds is Zim( and maybe Moz). And it will cost a LOT more than 10-12k. I did it in Botswana 10 years ago before it was stopped. A close range charge is almost guaranteed in the Kalahari because of a lack of large trees and caves for the cat to bay up in. I killed mine with a 12 gauge and SSG in mid air 8-9 feet of the muzzle. Landed at my feet.

Thanks. I would be fine hunting over a bait.

A good leopard hunt will cost at least 12+k(usually more) over bait and about 18-20k with hounds. I had 2 unsuccessful bait hunts before the hound hunt. And that isn't an unusual situation unless you spend serious money on a premium area/outfitter

I appreciate the information.

jdollar,
I think you are a little out with those figures. There is no doubt that you get Leopard hunts, and then you get Leopard hunts, as I am sure you know seeing that you had two unsuccessful baited hunts. Were all of these hunts, including the hound hunt, all with the same outfitter?
Leopard hunts is without a doubt the single most hunt that hunters get taken for a ride on.
Trying to go cheap, could end up becoming a very expensive holiday or plains game hunt. On bait, the lowest I have seen recently is $17,000. Depending on area, these hunts over bait can go out to $28,000, I've seen. The cheapest Leopard hunt with hounds that I have, from a trusted area and operator is in Zimbabwe was in the region of $26,000, and I also saw this going out to $36,000.

Wow man no words for this. that's insane

I guess I was trying not to be too pessimistic or discouraging. My first baited hunt was in 2004 in the Matopos hill of Zim, followed by one in Limpopo province in RSA the next year. The following year was the successful hound hunt in Botswana. I haven't kept with prices much in the last 10 years...

Ahh, the greatest dreams of my youth crushed even more.

Beautiful animal, hope that fella recovers well. Close call

Maybe Marius could give us an update on how his man fared. I would like to know; I'm sure others would, too.

Gastly looking wounds, sometimes they repair fairly well.

From the looks of his eye (loss of muscle tone, eye not closed/other one is) and the deep cut just ahead of his ear, I was concerned about fascial nerve laceration. Sometimes those can be fixed, sometimes not.

Just curious.

DF

That is a MONSTER leopard!


Having been on the receiving end of one a lot smaller than that ( and it didn't manage to get on anybody....), I can tell you it is a chilling experience. One that size could induce abject terror in a hurry....

I don't know much about leopards but man, that's a whopper.

To me it looks as if the cat only got one claw into the houndsman. Think what it would look if all five razor blades had struck.

When I hunted with Scott Van Zyl ( SS PRO SAFARIS ) a couple of years ago he was guiding a man for a leopard hunt that was doing an archery hunt. Sounded pretty cool. I left before he connected. They do pretty well on Leopard. Not sure of the price.

Nothing, and I mean nothing makes me wince like the thought of a mad leopard getting ahold of me. I scared my cat once and she was up my leg, down my leg, out of the room and up the stairs in less than about 2 seconds. I had scratches all over my left leg bleeding like a stuck pig. Cats are impressive creatures. And THAT is a monster cat.

Great big leopard! Hope the injured guy recovers.

Man that is a beautiful cat. Sure hope for a quick and complete recovery for the hounds man.
Here is a contact if you want a Leopard Hunt,in Old Africa.
Mozambique www.luambeze.com/ Jamie wilson
I hunted Buffalo with him Nov 2016. He had several Leopards on trail cams. He is close to 100 % on his Leopard hunts. We had Leopards walking through camp at night. Lions as well. He has a video of himself shooting a Leopard off his tracker.

I had a few beers,last week, with Dale, the young man who shot the leopard. Dale handles predator control at Frontier Safari's. Apparently the leopard that Dale killed is roughly 2x the size of leopard from the Eastern Cape. The guys think that this cat may have escaped from a photo safari ranch nearby.