I arranged a wildlife tour of South Africa, and we were driving through Kruger National park towards one of the main rest camps when we were stopped by a police officer. He tipped us off about a buffalo that had been killed by lions right outside our camp. Sure enough we went straight there, only to find the carcass being guarded by a very sick looking lion with TB and a lone white-backed vulture. All a bit weird, and we were running out of daylight so we headed back to camp to eat and freshen up. Luckily we had a night drive booked with the park rangers in one of their safari vehicles. Our group was 22 or so, so we had pretty much booked the whole safari truck. Pure luck really!
Old male lion with TB, guarding a kill.
Anyway as night fell it became instantly apparent that we were in for a real treat, as all we could hear was the cacophony of sounds created by Hyenas descending from all angles upon the kill. At guess there were over 30 of them, and they were right up against our campsite fences, within a metre, so we could fully admire their formidable frame. One crazy old lady from the campsite put her hand towards the fence to try in stroke one, sure enough it snarled right at her! I am not quite sure she fully valued having all her fingers.
Anyway, we jumped into the truck and drove straight to the carcass, and this is where the video starts! WOW just listen to what we heard and saw! Absolutely astonishing! From what we could gather, there were 4 young, probably nomadic males capitalising on a kill that was being poorly safeguarded by a male lion with TB and a female lion. The four were feasting away and intermittently shouting at the TB lion every time he tried to have his turn. We were fully surrounded by jackal and hyenas in every direction, revealed only by their sounds and eye shine from our torches.
Then all of a sudden the mood changed, hyenas scarpered and jackals went quite. Out of the bush came two huge mature male lions with big dark manes making a beeline for the kill, which we think might have been originally killed by them. The younger males knew their place and instantly ran for cover. There is also a chance that these youngsters were the previous years offspring (or relations at least) and had been ousted from the pride.
Intent on chasing the youngsters away, the big males left the carcass unattended, so the TB male finally got his chance to feed. It was short-lived as within a few minutes they were back, and seriously offended by the TB male, quickly setting upon in him 2 against 1, savaging his skinny and frail body. It was pretty gruesome and we caught it all in film! Good camera work Rik and Danny! The two big males were seriously pumped up with adrenalin now and chased everything that moved including hyena, jackal and even the female lion. This opened up the doors for a huge clan of hyena who moved in lightening quick to dismember whatever was left of the buffalo. Their muscular bodies supremely evolved for this exact purpose, to rip off as much meat as possible using their strong jaws and upper body strength, in as short a time as possible, before the competition arrives. You have got to love them! We heard bones snapping, fur ripping and the carcass was reduced to noting within minutes. It was fascinating! Watch it for yourself in this video!
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