At last we got it.
It’s taken the guts of five months but eventually we see Wild Dogs on the college grounds. And boy what a sight. After getting up at four O'Clock and all the whingeing and moaning that goes with the unearthly hour. It proved to be worth the effort. We had just stopped to clear some trees that an inconsiderate! Elephant had knocked down into our path when we heard a yelping sound. Danielle was just off the tracker seat and we all yelled in unison, “Wild Dog!” I think she got a good fright and hopped back onto the seat.
There is a documentary series produced by the BBC called Planet Earth. Now this documentary series is in one word “amazing.” In one episode based in Africa the team tries to shoot a scene of Wild Dogs hunting. It can be notoriously difficult because for the most part the dogs hunt at such a pace and they generally hunt through inhospitable terrain where most vehicles can’t follow. The BBC used a helicopter to try and catch the hunt. They actually filmed unsuccessfully for nearly two weeks without getting the shots and then suddenly they had it. One morning everything just clicked for them. It gives you an idea about how difficult it can be to either find them and of course to see them in hunting mode.
Our photos and video came and fell into our lap! We had spotted their spoor about a kilometre back on a game path. It looked quite fresh and the other group had been lucky enough to see four dogs in the area the day before. Then suddenly a big Alpha Male Wild Dog brought down an Impala right in front of our eyes. The Impala were running and stotting for their lives in front of us. The other members of the pack continued on with the chase and probably caught another Impala further along. We wouldn’t have been able to chase the rest of the group but luckily for us we didn’t have to. The female Impala was torn to shreds in front of us. It turns out that she was pregnant and the foetus was quite well developed. I guess its nature at its cruelest. The Wild Dogs have been described as the most efficient carnivores on the continent. They have a success rate on each hunt of well over 60 per cent which when you compare to the bigger cats is phenomenal. Lions for example only succeed in about 20 % of their hunts. We sat there as the male tucked into his bounty. He wolfed down as much of the innards as he could and then just as suddenly as he shown up he was gone. They have an acute sense of hearing and maybe he could hear danger approaching. We sat there in awe of what we had just seen. There was a nervous excitement rippling through the group and then we heard the unmistakable roars of Lions. We listened intently for a few minutes and heard them roaring from not that far away to our East. Suddenly as we were watching the abandoned carcass from a safe distance a flash of tawny coloured fur appeared to rip the carcass from the ground and drag it along the ground. It was a female Lion that had just sprinted out of the brush. I don’t know if the commotion of the kill had given the position away or the smell from the very fresh carcass but it took her less than ten minutes to locate the dead Impala.
Unfortunately as we were about to turn and go back and watch the scavenged carcass, another vehicle arrived. It was the Ngala reserve camp vehicle with 3 guests on board. They couldn’t possibly have tracked the dogs so well as to just come upon the scene so we reckoned it was just pot luck. The bored looking guests were in for a nice surprise but we had to leave the scene. I suppose we had been lucky to see the Wild Dog but it was tinged with a slight feeling of regret that we couldn’t watch the Lioness eat her bounty. It would have made the day even more special but I guess we should be happy with a very rare and unique moment!
It’s taken the guts of five months but eventually we see Wild Dogs on the college grounds. And boy what a sight. After getting up at four O'Clock and all the whingeing and moaning that goes with the unearthly hour. It proved to be worth the effort. We had just stopped to clear some trees that an inconsiderate! Elephant had knocked down into our path when we heard a yelping sound. Danielle was just off the tracker seat and we all yelled in unison, “Wild Dog!” I think she got a good fright and hopped back onto the seat.
There is a documentary series produced by the BBC called Planet Earth. Now this documentary series is in one word “amazing.” In one episode based in Africa the team tries to shoot a scene of Wild Dogs hunting. It can be notoriously difficult because for the most part the dogs hunt at such a pace and they generally hunt through inhospitable terrain where most vehicles can’t follow. The BBC used a helicopter to try and catch the hunt. They actually filmed unsuccessfully for nearly two weeks without getting the shots and then suddenly they had it. One morning everything just clicked for them. It gives you an idea about how difficult it can be to either find them and of course to see them in hunting mode.
Our photos and video came and fell into our lap! We had spotted their spoor about a kilometre back on a game path. It looked quite fresh and the other group had been lucky enough to see four dogs in the area the day before. Then suddenly a big Alpha Male Wild Dog brought down an Impala right in front of our eyes. The Impala were running and stotting for their lives in front of us. The other members of the pack continued on with the chase and probably caught another Impala further along. We wouldn’t have been able to chase the rest of the group but luckily for us we didn’t have to. The female Impala was torn to shreds in front of us. It turns out that she was pregnant and the foetus was quite well developed. I guess its nature at its cruelest. The Wild Dogs have been described as the most efficient carnivores on the continent. They have a success rate on each hunt of well over 60 per cent which when you compare to the bigger cats is phenomenal. Lions for example only succeed in about 20 % of their hunts. We sat there as the male tucked into his bounty. He wolfed down as much of the innards as he could and then just as suddenly as he shown up he was gone. They have an acute sense of hearing and maybe he could hear danger approaching. We sat there in awe of what we had just seen. There was a nervous excitement rippling through the group and then we heard the unmistakable roars of Lions. We listened intently for a few minutes and heard them roaring from not that far away to our East. Suddenly as we were watching the abandoned carcass from a safe distance a flash of tawny coloured fur appeared to rip the carcass from the ground and drag it along the ground. It was a female Lion that had just sprinted out of the brush. I don’t know if the commotion of the kill had given the position away or the smell from the very fresh carcass but it took her less than ten minutes to locate the dead Impala.
Unfortunately as we were about to turn and go back and watch the scavenged carcass, another vehicle arrived. It was the Ngala reserve camp vehicle with 3 guests on board. They couldn’t possibly have tracked the dogs so well as to just come upon the scene so we reckoned it was just pot luck. The bored looking guests were in for a nice surprise but we had to leave the scene. I suppose we had been lucky to see the Wild Dog but it was tinged with a slight feeling of regret that we couldn’t watch the Lioness eat her bounty. It would have made the day even more special but I guess we should be happy with a very rare and unique moment!
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