A hyena and leopard were caught up in a tug of war over prey before a lioness chased them off showing who the real queen of the jungle is.

Tommaso Balestrini, 46, was on his final day of a tour through Khwai Private Reserve, Botswana, on May 30 when the guide pulled up next to two predators fighting over a kill.

Dramatic footage shows the hyena holding on to the neck of the slain impala while the cheetah had its jaws sunk deeply into the hind of the unfortunate animal.

Suddenly the pair of them dropped their meal and ran off as a lion appeared from out of nowhere and chased them off before settling down to the food itself.

Tomasso, owner of Africome safari company, said: “This was an epic sighting. It was once in a lifetime. I’ve been on hundreds of safaris and have never seen this before.

“Our guide KK has been working in the bush for years and said he had never seen a battle like this before. Just seeing a leopard is extraordinary, let alone this encounter.

“Usually a leopard won’t challenge a hyena because it is lower in the hierarchy of predators, but this one was quite a large male and tried to get at least part of the impala.

“This led to a tug of war while they both tried to get bites out of the kill. This meant they couldn’t see the lioness which appeared from the bushes.

“As soon as she arrived, they both escaped. They didn’t even try to defend the kill. They knew who the real king of the jungle is.

“Both the leopard and hyena decided it wasn’t worth the risk of getting injured over this kill. They certainly knew the hierarchy.”

Africome is a specialist safari company, which focuses on bespoke trips in eastern and southern Africa and was started by Tommaso after he fell in love with the bush after his first trip in 1998.

Tommaso, from Milan, Italy, said: “Just a few minutes after camp, a male leopard crossed the road right in front of us. We began following this leopard at the same time as a spotted hyena did.

“This is normal behaviour for a hyena because they are known to be opportunistic and sometimes follow big cats looking for an easy meal.

“The leopard was very aware of the hyena but continued its hunt. They then both disappeared into a thicket, so we lost sight of them.

“We managed to get to an open area around the other side and this is where we saw the impala kill, which at the time only the hyena was eating, with the leopard close by just watching.

“It was certainly a kill of a leopard, whether it was the one we were following or another one.

“Leopards will feed on a kill over a few days, even leaving it alone while it goes to take a drink or hiding it for later on.

“We can’t be certain that this wasn’t another leopard’s kill that our big cat stumbled on or not.

“Our leopard was very grumpy because I believe it wanted to take it away before the hyena arrived.”

A hyena and leopard were caught up in a tug of war over prey before a lioness chased them off showing who the real queen of the jungle is.

Tommaso Balestrini, 46, was on his final day of a tour through Khwai Private Reserve, Botswana, on May 30 when the guide pulled up next to two predators fighting over a kill.

Dramatic footage shows the hyena holding on to the neck of the slain impala while the cheetah had its jaws sunk deeply into the hind of the unfortunate animal.

Suddenly the pair of them dropped their meal and ran off as a lion appeared from out of nowhere and chased them off before settling down to the food itself.

Tomasso, owner of Africome safari company, said: “This was an epic sighting. It was once in a lifetime. I’ve been on hundreds of safaris and have never seen this before.

“Our guide KK has been working in the bush for years and said he had never seen a battle like this before. Just seeing a leopard is extraordinary, let alone this encounter.

“Usually a leopard won’t challenge a hyena because it is lower in the hierarchy of predators, but this one was quite a large male and tried to get at least part of the impala.

“This led to a tug of war while they both tried to get bites out of the kill. This meant they couldn’t see the lioness which appeared from the bushes.

“As soon as she arrived, they both escaped. They didn’t even try to defend the kill. They knew who the real king of the jungle is.

“Both the leopard and hyena decided it wasn’t worth the risk of getting injured over this kill. They certainly knew the hierarchy.”

Africome is a specialist safari company, which focuses on bespoke trips in eastern and southern Africa and was started by Tommaso after he fell in love with the bush after his first trip in 1998.

Tommaso, from Milan, Italy, said: “Just a few minutes after camp, a male leopard crossed the road right in front of us. We began following this leopard at the same time as a spotted hyena did.

“This is normal behaviour for a hyena because they are known to be opportunistic and sometimes follow big cats looking for an easy meal.

“The leopard was very aware of the hyena but continued its hunt. They then both disappeared into a thicket, so we lost sight of them.

“We managed to get to an open area around the other side and this is where we saw the impala kill, which at the time only the hyena was eating, with the leopard close by just watching.

“It was certainly a kill of a leopard, whether it was the one we were following or another one.

“Leopards will feed on a kill over a few days, even leaving it alone while it goes to take a drink or hiding it for later on.

“We can’t be certain that this wasn’t another leopard’s kill that our big cat stumbled on or not.

“Our leopard was very grumpy because I believe it wanted to take it away before the hyena arrived.”