Camera: Nikon D850

Lens: Nikkor 300MM

Aperture: f/4.0

Shutter speed: 1/1250 sec

ISO: 125

Description: Leopard takedown of Topi

Story from behind the lens: At the end of a long morning drive, my guide and I decided to test our luck by looking for a leopard. By chance, we found him sitting on rocks across a river. The leopard eventually crossed the river to our side and laid down in the shade. After patient waiting for 30 minutes, a group of topis wandered down to the river for a drink. The leopard popped up from its rest and went into hunting mode. The leopard stalked through the long grass and patiently waited for the topis to finish drinking. As the topis climbed up the bank the leopard pounced and took down the topi for a successful kill. It was a thrill to watch the take down by ourselves and the leopard take down a large topi.