Sunday Nature Stills – 11/15/2015

These two healthy Impala were part of a relatively large herd that I photographed near the Tarangire River in the Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, Africa.  Tarangire is a beautiful place with valleys of tall savannah trees, lush undergrowth, and tall grass. It seemed a bit like the Garden of Eden.

We had briefly seen a leopard in the area, and the Impala herd was a little agitated and carefully keeping watch for the leopard.  Shortly after taking this photograph, the leopard leapt out of the grass, quickly pounced on one of the Impala, and just a quickly, they both disappeared into the tall grass.  The herd, scattered a bit, regrouped around the young, and waited for a minute before reluctantly moving away.

We quietly stayed in the area and watched for signs of the leopard.  After about half an hour of waiting, we spotted the leopard in a large nearby tree resting after the kill.  It was interesting to see how quickly all the animals reacted and likewise how quickly they relaxed and went back to normal.