A tourist documented the rare moment a leopard patiently shifted her kittens to a place across the road in a safari park.

While on a visit to the Kruger National Park in South Africa, 64-year-old Thinus Delport told his daughters to sing to coax the animals out of their hiding spots and the trick did work.

The leopard mom was first seen in the bushes adjacent to the road, after which she came out to cross the road with her kittens.

The visitors were cooing in the background to praise the young leopards.

First to emerge from the bushes was the leopard mom who apparently scanned the area for any imminent threat. Two kittens then followed her but went back to hiding shortly after.

The mother leopard soon realized that her kids were not with her, so she stood in the center of the road, patiently waiting for them to come out and join her.

Finally, the mother had to go back and bring them out with her. This time the family crossed the road while the traffic on the road was still to witness the transit.

In the middle of the road, one of the kittens was left behind due to its slow speed but the mother leopard took hold of its neck, guiding it in the right direction before it could consider turning back.

Kruger National Park is one of the very few locations where visitors can see big cats in their natural habitat but seeing such a transport of young kittens is not a normal thing.

The leopard family was spotted by Mr. Delport 6km from Lower Sabie towards Crocodile Bridge.

Speaking to Latest Sightings, Delport said: “Early morning, my daughters and I left the camp looking for leopards. They were convinced that there are no leopards in the Kruger, as neither of them had ever seen one.

“As we drove, I jokingly convinced them to start singing in the car, to draw the leopards out, and so they did – and to my surprise – it actually worked.

“It was my daughter’s first visit to the Kruger and she was the first to whip out her video camera.

“I’m glad she did because I would have been shaking so much from excitement, that the footage might have just been ruined.

“We’ve been visiting the Kruger for over 50 years, and not once have we seen something like this. This just came to show that patience really does pay off.”

 

 

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