This impala fought hard to the bitter end to keep his life, despite the gruesome injuries received from a pack of hungry wild dogs. It’s a very emotional sighting to watch as you realize why they say mother-nature is not for sissies…
Caught on camera by 45-year-old General Manager, Hans Schuring, he tells LatestSightings.com how this sighting played out: “After camping for twenty-two days in the Kruger National Park, we were on our way home with an early start from Satara camp, heading towards Phabeni gate. As always, we had mixed feelings, a bit sad to leave, but anxious to see one more amazing sighting.
At around 6:50 we were coming around a bend, on the H1-2, heading towards the H12, with the caravan running happily behind our vehicle, when suddenly we saw movement to the right of the road. As we came closer we saw a wild dog standing over an impala that was lying next to the road. Initially, we were a bit disappointed that we’d missed the actual catch by a matter of maybe seconds, but the following moments were very intense and emotional. The impala was still alive trying to get to his feet as the wild dog was biting and tearing away the flesh from the stomach area.
The wild dog continued to bite and pull on the impala so strongly, that the impala managed to get to his feet again, and for a moment we were in disbelief and shock when we saw that the impala’s intestines were hanging outside his body while he was still alive and fending off the wild dog.
The emotions in the vehicle soon changed to a deep sadness for the brave impala, hoping that his misery will end soon. It was heart-breaking to watch, he put up a very brave stand-off against the wild dog but it felt like hours before the rest of the pack began to arrive whilst the wild dog was circling its prey and calling them to join in the kill.
Once the rest of the pack arrived the impala made a last attempt to fend off the pack but they were on him in a matter of seconds and bringing him down, and he finally died. It was brutal and fierce, typical wild dog hunting behaviour, but this is nature at its best and why we love to come back to Kruger Park year after year. In less than ten minutes the pack devoured the impala, side by side, giving each other an opportunity to eat.
This was truly an amazing sighting for us. We have seen wild dogs before in the park, lying under trees, or trotting down the road or in the veld, but never with a kill. We were mesmerized during the 10-15 minutes with all the interaction, only afterwards fully realizing what we had witnessed.
We were only two or three vehicles who saw the whole ordeal, one car just driving past, looking the other way…
Kruger National Park is really an amazing place, you never know what you will find around the next corner.