Well, of course we know that life in the bush – or wildlife anywhere on earth, for that matter – is not a matter of good guys against bad guy. The lives of non-human creatures are not morality plays for the instruction and entertainment of humans.

But sometimes, no matter how stern-minded and austere you are, you find yourself taking side. We had caught two hyenas in the spotlight, grinning that unnerving hyena grin, for they are equipped with one of the best bites, in terms of pounds per square inch, of any mammal on the planet.

And then we had a leopard, 300 yards away. From the shape of her body it was clear that she had something with her: she had killed and her next meal, her lifeline, lay on the ground beside her. She had knocked down a puku, one of the ambient antelopes of the Luangwa Valley in Zambia: and that put us in a delicate situation. Naturally we wanted to observe her, but at the same time, we didn’t want to get in her way — or worse, pinpoint her puku for the benefit of the hyenas. Hyenas are accomplished robbers; kleptoparasites, to use a more grownup term. Should they approach her, she would have no option but to give up her prize without a struggle.

Hyenas, leopards and everything else round here are used to nocturnal vehicles with bright lights and they accept them as a neutral presence: and it was important that we remained just that, a neutral presence. We shone the light away from the leopard and watched her in the glow outside the direct beam. She had a quarter-mile of open ground to go: and over every inch she was vulnerable.

It was a huge effort, for the puku was almost as heavy as she was. We looked on as she trudged, schlepped, trained, dragged, trascined her load: a dozen stretchy paces, pause, rest, catch breath: and drag again. Would she get there in time? It was like a sporting event and we were all rooting for the spotty team. She crossed in front of us, down into the gulley, up the steep far bank. There was a rather nerve-racking pause – and then she was up the tree in three quite miraculous bounds, and she and the late puku were comfortable as could be along the same horizontal branch.

After a not-quite silent cheer from everyone in the vehicle, we drove on into the Luangwa night.

I was co-leading the Ultimate Luangwa safari for www.wildlifeworldwide.com. Next year I will be co-leading https://www.wildlifeworldwide.com/group-tours/sacred-combe-safari and I will also be participating in