Spotless! Leopard ends up covered head to tail in mud after diving into a stinking lake to catch a catfish

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This is the moment a hungry leopard dived into a lake to catch a fish and emerged completely covered in mud. The leopard looked almost completely unrecognisable as it climbed out of the lake spotless. 

The sequence of images shows the leopard patiently searching for fish on the banks of the lake in South Africa. As soon as it catches sight of a fish it dives into the muddy lake head first and emerges covered in mud, clutching a small fish.

The images were taken by field guide and ranger Hugo Breed where he works at Leopard Hills, a private game reserve in South Africa. Hugo, 29, said he was taking two guests on a guided tour of the reserve this month when he captured the images. 

He said: 'The leopard had been staking out that pool since the day before. So we headed back there early in the morning to see if we would get lucky with him trying to catch some fish. In the first of the images the leopard starts focusing on the fish in the mud. He then proceeds to stalk closer to the mud.

'He then leapt in and disappeared under the mud before emerging completely covered in mud, holding a small catfish in his mouth. He struggled to drag himself out of the mud, got out and looked around before finding a spot where he could feast on it.

'He was definitely not very happy about it. Cats in general do not like to be dirty. He was trying to shake the mud off his legs as he was walking along.

'I saw him the next day and his head and chest area were very clean, but most of his body was still a bit muddy and dirty.'

Clean catch: The leopard is barely recognisable after emerging from the pool covered head to tail in mud.

The leopard focuses on the catfish in the muddy pool before making his move. He was spotted by tour guide Hugo Breed at a private game reserve in South Africa known as Leopard Hills.

He seizes his moment by diving headfirst into the pool. Hugo said the leopard had been stalking the waterhole since the day before.

Caught in the act: Hugo headed back to the pool the next morning in the hope of catching sight of the leopard making his catch.

Splash: The big cat was completely submerged after leaping into the muddy lake.

Here's mud in your eye: The leopard's patience paid off and he emerged from the water holding a catfish.

Spotted: After trapping the fish in its jaws the leopard began to slowly paddle to the bank.

Hugo said: 'He struggled to drag himself out of the mud, got out and looked around before finding a spot where he could feast on his catch of the day.'

The leopard was so covered in mud that when Hugo saw it the next day it was still filthy. 'He was trying to shake the mud off his legs as he was walking along,' said Hugo. 'His head and chest area were very clean, but most of his body was still a bit muddy and dirty.'