Yesterday we got up very early and went out all day for a game drive. It was raining pretty heavy and we got poured on even though we had the canvas roof on. I love rainy and overcast days, because you tend to see more action since it’s not so hot and all the animals aren’t lying under shady spots which are hard to spot. We saw a few carcasses that we had never seen before (female buffalo and warthog) and heard a lion roaring in the distance. We also came right up behind a Kori Bustard and watched it fly away (it was huge). When our group had returned back to camp to lie down before dinner we got a call from the other group saying they had found 4 wild dogs! I couldn’t believe my ears at first since wild dogs are so rare and endangered and on top of that they were on our grounds! We figured it was part of the pack from Manyeleti right across the road that was off to find a new den since the pups were grown and ready to run with the pack. Unfortunately we could not go out to see them and were stuck looking at pictures and hearing stories from the other group who were all still in shock from this awesome sighting which lasted around 5 minutes.
Today we awoke at 4am to get an early start because Sean our instructor wanted to watch the sun rise. For the first hour we did not see anything , only the occasional hornbill and impala, as we started to head to the area where the wild dogs were seen we ran into 2 Kori Bustard walking along searching for food down below. As they left our sight we were about to pull off until I noticed some odd footprints on the ground beside our car. I automatically thought wild dog but asked Sean just for assurance. No one really recognized any of these strange little tracks that we had never before seen, but all felt that we had come across wild dog tracks. We jumped back into the vehicle and headed on. As we were driving along I kept seeing these tracks from the tracker seat and knew we were following right behind them from what looked like earlier this morning. As we pulled down one of the roads we came upon a large dead tree that was blocking the road. Since it was the trackers duty to remove all branches and thorns from the road that may harm the land rover . When the driver stopped the vehicle I checked for danger and did not feel there was any threat , just a herd of impala eating, so I declared it safe and jumped off to move the large tree pushed over in the road from an elephant . As I walked up to the tree I was only thinking about one thing, why was I the only one moving this large object and which direction should I push it over to without getting a handful of thorns? Just then right ahead of me I heard an alarm snort follwed by a stampede sound and saw the same group of impala running frantically across the path. Knowing that impala are skittish I did not think much of it and turned my head to the vehicle to ask Sean how I should push the tree over. Just then I heard Sean yell out for me to get back on the tracker seat and watched as everyone was gazing straight behind me with eyes wide open pointing their fingers. When I turned to see what was going on I heard the word DOG! And just then I saw a glimpse of a dark object flash across the road trailing right behind the impala and did not think to question what I was actually seeing. I ran (yes ran) to the tracker seat and by the time I had turned around one of the dogs had grabbed a female impala by the throat, thrown her down on the path and dragged her by her stomach onto the road where it without hesitation began to effortlessly tear into the stomach of the impala which was still alive and in shock. Was this really happening I kept thinking to myself! Some people go their whole lifetime without being fortunate enough to capture a wild dog kill on camera and here we were causally stumbling upon an actual chase and kill. I quickly pulled my camera out and started to take a video. The wild dogs face quickly became covered with blood and bit by bit it tore out its favorite pieces and swallowed them whole. Something really gruesome to witness was when it pulled out the impala’s baby embryo and threw it to the side. When it had finished, which took a matter of minutes it quickly disappeared into the bush to rejoin with the other members of its pack who were still in pursuit of the rest of the impala herd , oblivious to the kill that had just been made and just as quick as the dog arrived it vanished.
The dog had dragged the impala back into the road and started to eatThis was a gruesome sight to see !
This was a gruesome sight!
This was our first kill to ever witness here in Africa and the fact that it was with wild dog is something we all never dreamed would happen! As the other group pulled up anxious to see a piece of the action, they were all quickly disappointed to find out that the dogs were gone. All that was left was the remains of a disemboweled impala and her baby lying next to her. Just then we saw an Ngala vehicle pull up and knew it was time to leave since we were on their property and they had guests. As they pulled by us we felt satisfied knowing what we had just witnessed and as humbly as we could explained what they had just missed, which put a huge damper on the guides drive. When we turned around to get one last glimpse of the area we saw a lioness appear out of nowhere and head to the carcass followed by another. Some of us had thought we heard small lion grunts nearby , but didn’t dream they would show up this quick to finish off the impala.Unfortunately we could not go back and watch as the lions took their turn, but we had seen something far greater that will stay in my memory forever!
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