On a recent spring afternoon in South Africa's Sabi Sand Game Reserve, a female leopard kills a spiral-horned nyala. The big cat and her juvenile cub settle in for a meal, but they are soon interrupted by an unlikely pair.

More than a football field away, a young male leopard has just been chased off another kill by a larger leopard. The rejected juvenile becomes aware of the female eating and makes his way over to her. He chases away the mother leopard and her cub, but before he can sneak the carcass up a tree to enjoy it in solitude, another uninvited guest drops by: an opportunistic hyena.

In a sort of glutton’s tug of war, the