Nature's most brutal 'courtship': Leopard kills and eats female's cub so that she is forced to mate with him

 This is the gruesome moment a cannibal leopard killed and then ate a female's cub - so that she was forced to mate with him.

Graphic images show the male leopard carrying the mutilated body of the cub in its mouth before dragging it up into a tree in a game reserve in the north east of South Africa.

               
 It then appears to save its 'meal' for later by hanging it on a branch to stop other animals getting their paws on his catch. Experts said the leopard killed the baby so it could mate with its mother.


The pictures were taken by Warrick Davey, a field guide at &Beyond's Exeter River Lodge.


The 29-year-old, from Scottburgh, South Africa, was leading a series of guests on a safari tour when he spotted the grizzly scene unfolding.


He said the guests on his tour were so shocked by what they saw they were left speechless.