Caught on camera: Leopard goes window shopping in the city

By Earth Touch 
October 28 2015

Nothing to see here, just a leopard enjoying some early morning window shopping. CCTV cameras captured this brazen cat strolling past a furniture and decor store in Mbombela, South Africa on Monday morning. This store opens at 9am, but this curious cat showed up five hours early (to avoid the queues, we assume).
 
So could there be a leopard cruising around the city? Although rare, the sighting is perhaps not all that surprising. The furniture store is situated near the Crocodile River – follow this perennial watercourse east for 40 kilometres or so and you'll find yourself in the country's famed Kruger National Park, the perfect habitat for this big cat. Leopards are highly adaptable and have large home ranges, so our guess is that this urban visitor is probably just passing through.
And this isn't the first time that a wild predator has wandered into a South African city. In 2013, wildlife officials darted and removed a hyena from the streets of Johannesburg, and last year, the body of a serval was discovered on a city sidewalk.

We're holding thumbs that this interloper finds its way safely back to the wild where it belongs.



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