This is the heartbreaking moment a helpless baby monkey clung onto its dead mother as her lifeless body hung from a leopard’s mouth.
The tiny vervet monkey refused to let go of its mother after the predator pounced at South Luangwa National Park in Zambia, despite putting itself in grave danger.
The youngster was also eventually killed by the leopards – led by a female known as Olimba – during the hunt on October 14.
The heart-wrenching moment was caught on camera by wildlife photographer Shafeeq Mulla from Chipata, Zambia, who said: ‘Nature is not always pretty and this picture definitely shows us the harsh reality of life.
‘To have a sustainable environment, animals need to die for others to survive.’
This is the heart-breaking moment a helpless baby monkey clung onto its dead mother as her lifeless body hung from a leopard’s mouth
The tiny vervet monkey refused to let go of its parents after the predator pounced at South Luangwa National Park in Zambia
Despite the peril it faced by clinging onto its mother, the baby monkey refused to let go, and was also eventually killed by the other leopards in the group
This was the heart-breaking moment a desperate baby monkey hangs onto its mom after a leopard caught her. This sighting took place in South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. 23-year old, wildlife photographer Shafeeq Mulla shares this unbelievable tale with LatestSightings.com:
“My friends and I, along with our guide had planned a long trip just to search for this leopard, called Olimba, hoping to see her in action. We went out early one morning searching for the same leopard who had an unsuccessful hunt the day before.”
“We found her only to see that she had killed and was carrying a female vervet monkey in her mouth. All while the monkey’s baby was hanging on for dear life”
“I knew that we had just seen a once-in-a-lifetime sighting. My advice for any wildlife enthusiast would be that you really have to be patient with wild animals and you will experience some amazing behaviour and sightings.”
“This leopard is quite old and has a young cub named Tattoo. A documentary has also been made on her and is called The Leopard Legacy on NatGeo. Olimba carried the dead vervet monkey and her baby back to her young cub. Sadly in the end – the baby monkey was also killed by the leopard’s cub after playing with it for a few minutes.”
