WATCH | Leopardess breaks up big cat fight for her affection

Footage taken by a safari guide at the Kruger National Park shows a rare sighting of a female leopard breaking up a fight between two male cats vying for her attention.

The video begins with a male leopard lying on the grass before another appears next to him. Both animals freeze before the one on the right restlessly circles the other, briefly disappearing into the vegetation.

In another shot, the two grapple as one hits the other in a struggle for freedom.

A female appears nearby and watches from the sidelines before intervening, startling the leopard pinning the other animal to the ground.

The leopard with the advantage scurries away to hide in a tree, while the other saunters off, bruised and bleeding. The female joins the battered leopard, tentatively approaching him, until she loses interest to search for the other male.

Daniel Bailey, the guide who filmed the altercation, said the sighting was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“It was a very rare sighting. It was a dream sighting for any ranger or guest. One could spend a lifetime in the bush and never see male leopards in a serious clash like this, let alone have three leopards in a sighting,” he said.