Baboons Had revenge for the Seizure of One of Their Number, Though Many Were Sacrificed.
The leopard likes the meat of certain monkeys, but the indulgence of his taste sometimes costs him dear. A remarkable battle between a leopard and a company of baboons, seen by a traveler in Africa, is described in Das Buch fur Alle.
I was sitting in the shade of a ravine, resting from the midday sun, when a company of baboons came clambering down the opposite wall toward the water that trickled through the gully. I sat still and watched them. A big male led, and after satisfying himself that all was safe, uttered a few deep notes.
Reassured by the call, the others quickly followed; a mother, with an ever-watchful eye on her two young ones, brought up the rear.
Suddenly, like a streak of lightning, a leopard sprang from behind a rock, and with one blow of his paw, felled the little baboon nearest him. But before he could make off with his prey, the furious mother attacked him. The attack had come so quickly that the rest of the company hardly realized what had happened. But at the mother’s cry of rage they all at once turned and fell upon the robber.
In a moment the leopard was surrounded and almost covered with furious baboons. The battle waxed hot. Although numbers of baboons went down before the powerful paws of the cat, their places were immediately filled by others. It was not long before the leopard began to tire; he could make no noticeable impression upon his assailants, and his strength was sapped by their sharp teeth. He struggled bravely, but in vain; slowly he sank out of sight beneath the fiercely chattering foe that he had despised. The baby baboon was avenged.-Youth’s Companion.
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