Losing stretch: the African rock python was fought over by a mother leopard and her son after she plucked it from the South African bushA massive snake may not be the average feline's choice of chew toy.
But there was no stopping these leopards having a tug of war with one unlucky python.
The six-and-a-half-ft (2m) long African rock python became the unwilling 'rope' in the game, after being captured by a female leopard in the long grass.
But as she dragged it, still wriggling, along behind her, she was ambushed by her over-zealous son who wanted to land the kill for himself.
The young male snatched the end of the enormous snake in his powerful jaws, and tried to tug it away from his mother.
The two big cats fought ferociously over their prey for half an hour, in front of stunned guests at the MalaMala game reserve, South Africa.
No escape: the leopards struggled for half an hour in front of guests at South Africa's MalaMala nature reserveThe brutal battle was only ended when the female leopard gave up, retreating to a tree while her son tucked in to his prize.
But he only ate a morsel before deciding it was not to his taste, and discarding the snake's body in the long grass.
The unusual scene was caught on camera by American photographer Josh Scheinert, who was staying at the MalaMala reserve.
Antony Mulligan, 31, manager of the reserve, said: 'It was a really incredible sight - it's very, very rare.
Not to my taste: the young leopard won the tug of war but gave up on his prize after eating only a morsel'I've never seen anything like it before. Just to see two adult leopards together is rare, so to get them in a tug of war situation like this is amazing.
'We first saw the female leopard walking up the road, when she spotted this python trying to cross.
'She stalked it and caught it, but her son was following her.
'He's almost four and much larger than her. He should have set out on his own to be independent already, but he's a bit of a mummy's boy and keeps hanging around.
'In this case, he let mum do all the hard work then came in to take the snake for himself.
'He grabbed one end of it, and they got into a tug-of-war with the snake between them.
'They were probably at it for a good half hour before the female gave up and her son started feeding on it.
'After all that effort, he actually left most of it and discarded the snake in the long grass.
'It really was an amazing sighting.'
SOURCE: DAILYMAIL
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