A wildlife photographer received an unexpected assist from a lion while spotting an expertly camouflaged leopard in a tree at South Africa's Kruger National Park. Henri Olckers managed to capture an image of the incredibly well-hidden big cat, which he described as a "master of camouflage," though he admits he would have completely missed it without help from an unlikely source.

When Olckers shared the photograph on his Facebook page, viewers struggled immensely to locate the leopard in the image. Comments poured in from frustrated viewers, with one writing "Where? Driving me crazy," while another skeptically remarked, "Not sure there is a leopard in that tree." The leopard's camouflage skills proved so effective that many people couldn't spot it even when looking directly at the photograph.

The key to discovering the hidden leopard came from observing a lioness's suspicious behavior near the tree. "A lioness gave him away," Olckers explained in his Facebook post from last summer. "She was lying in the grass close to the tree. After a while, she got up, walked up to the tree, sniffed the air and looked up. Then walked off." This unusual behavior caught the photographer's attention and prompted him to investigate further.

Intrigued by the lioness's actions, Olckers decided to carefully examine the tree where she had been looking. "I thought it was a bit suspicious, so we scanned the tree and saw the tail," he wrote. The leopard's tail, with its distinctive spotted pattern, was the only visible part of the animal that could be detected by the human eye, though it required very close inspection to notice.

To help his Facebook followers better understand what they were looking for, Olckers posted additional images with varying levels of clarity. He shared a second photograph that showed the leopard's tail somewhat more clearly, followed by a third image taken later that distinctly displayed the leopard's head as it eventually came into view. These progressive shots helped viewers finally spot the well-concealed predator.

Olckers emphasized just how crucial the lion's tip-off had been to his successful wildlife photography. "We would have driven straight past if it wasn't for the lion," he acknowledged, highlighting how easy it would have been to miss this incredible sighting entirely. His Henri Olckers Wildlife Photography Facebook page features numerous other wildlife images that are considerably easier to spot than this particular leopard, demonstrating just how exceptional this camouflage example truly was.