Mark Goldstein, Portfolio: Nature's Drama. Leopard Mum Captures Guinea Fowl for Her Young Cub (ANIMAL & NATURE 2026)

We take a bush plane to the tiny Jeki airstrip in Lower Zambezi, Zambia, about twenty minutes from the capital, Lusaka. Spirits are high and expectant of great animal sightings. We weren’t disappointed. In the first 30 minutes of setting OFF on our drive to our luxury tented camp Dulini Anabesi, the driver takes a detour to reveal a leopard mother and cub reclining in the grass. We press on planning to circle back to them four days later on our return to the airstrip on departure, in the afternoon when they would be more active. Upon return, our safari guide located the leopard pair in the midst of a hunting drama. We were able to see the mother leopard the locals call Mumba out hunting and taking a Guinea fowl (1) for her cub which she had hidden, for safety, in dense scrub while she was out. Our guide followed the leopard, keeping a decent distance away so as not to distract her from her task, yet get us close enough for photographs. The first photo shows Mumba standing victorious over the dead guinea fowl. Then, in order to get a front-on shot our guide needed to anticipate the leopard’s path, circle around and wait for her to arrive. Several angles were tried but she was not on a straight path, perhaps evading unwanted company, and this made anticipation difficult. Finally I got a few good shots of Mumba approaching with Guinea fowl in mouth (2). The next part was fascinating: Mumba knew exactly where she had hidden her cub, manoeuvred her way there and emanated some vocalizations that sounded like chirping to call the cub with - an all clear, lunch is here. The cub came running out firstly to inspect what mum had brought him (3), then devour it with great enthusiasm, with feathers flying (4). There was not much else left for Mumba to finish. An extraordinary life drama to have had the privilege to witness and photograph.

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