The moment a hungry jackal tries to capture a nice bird for dinner is captured in these amazing photos. The jackal followed his prey while lying in wait before leaping through the air and charging the unwary birds at the waterhole.
The hungry jackal tried to catch the birds as he swooped through the air, splashing into the waterhole and sporting his razor-sharp teeth. Sadly, the jackal fell famished because the perceptive birds outran him in speed.
The unfortunate jackal was photographed by 43-year-old Aᴜsᴛʀᴀʟɪᴀn amateur photographer Jenny Andersen at the Cubitjie Quap waterhole in Sᴏᴜᴛʜ Aғʀɪᴄᴀ’s Kgalagadi Tansfrontier Park, near the border with Bᴏᴛsᴡᴀɴᴀ.
The jackal was there most mornings, according to Jenny, a resident of Cape Town. He arrived early and the doves were the first to arrive at the waterhole and he first tried his luck with them. They were swift and nimble, so if he managed to catch one, he would be really fortunate. However, they were just a warm-up for the sandgrouse though.
Around an hour after sunrise, the sandgrouse arrived to drink in large, noisy flocks. The jackal often waited about 10 meters away, waiting for a large group to land before sprinting to the waterhole and leaping into the air with his mouth open. But the birds were quick and they managed to escape the jaws of the jackal.