By Rebecca Lewis @RebeccaSLewis

EVEN in the animal kingdom unruly offspring have to be told off – and this leopard taught her cub a lesson it would never forget

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The mother was roused from her slumber and leapt at her young ...

The six-month old cub was playing on the lower branches of a tree when the mother was roused from her slumber and leapt at her young - swatting him with her paws and leaving him hanging from the branch.

The mother prepares to leap towards her naughty cub
The cub falls out of the tree after being told off by his mother

The agile feline then jumped the three metre distance again – finally forcing her cub to fall to the ground as its sibling watched on from below.

Daniel Fincham, a 23-year-old game ranger, captured the sequence of photographs in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve in South Africa.

Leopard leap: the mother leaps to bring down her cub ...
… and wraps her paws around him

He said: “I saw her jump and whack him off the branch, he was hanging there for some time.

“I quickly got out my camera and was just in time to capture her jumping for a second time, this time causing him to fall to the ground."

The mother was roused from her slumber and leapt at her young ...
... swatting him with her paws and leaving him hanging from the branch

He added: “The two cubs had been playing on the tree while the mother was lying under them sleeping for the morning.

“This cub and his sibling have been much entertainment since they were born and I have had the pleasure of seeing them almost every day growing up. I’m looking forward to seeing their development.”

Despite the strong admonishment from their mother, the two cubs spent the rest of the morning playing and climbing trees.

Scrappy: two leopard cubs play while being watched by their mother
The mother and two leopard cubs spent their morning playing and sleeping