This entertaining showdown between a pack of wild dogs and hyenas saw the wild dogs land a few punches.
Merrell Foote (56), a corporate communications and public relations professional living in Saudi Arabia, captured this funny footage during her Kirkmans Kamp game drive in Sabi Sands Game Reserve.
Saudi tells LatestSightings.com the story: “We could hear eerie cries of hyenas before we came upon this peculiar encounter between a pack of about 12 wild dogs and six hyenas. The dogs were playfully scampering with each other across an open field while the hyenas skulked around them. The dogs seemed pleased to tease the hyenas whilst also holding their ground. We weren’t sure why the territorial battle was taking place but neither side would back down and leave. We watched this funny boxing match for about 30 minutes, with the hyenas clearly outnumbered and outmaneuvered. It was still going on when we finally left.”
“The dogs were so carefree and playful, they reminded me of domestic dogs I’d see playing at dog parks in our hometown of Austin, Texas. The hyenas displayed the opposite behavior — nervous, jealous, and skulking around the dogs. We laughed as the hyenas tried to duck from the dogs’ playful jabs and were amazed that the interactions never turned vicious.”
“Incredibly rare sighting! Our guide and tracker had never seen anything like it in all their years in the bush. Other guides and trackers who saw the video later also said they’d never seen such a sight.”
“The next morning we watched the same pack of wild dogs hunt and kill an adult male impala. They descended on the animal in a wild frenetic swarm and consumed his carcass within minutes. It was a startling contrast to the behavior we saw the day before.”
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Wild dogs and hyenas are both the most powerful hunting groups in Africa. With the same daily competition for food, these two animals do not like each other. Therefore, they only need the opportunity to rush into each other to resolve the conflict.
According to the statistics of scientists, the majority of carnivores are solitary predators. They are almost all animals that have the advantage of bodybuilding or possess specific skills such as strength, speed, venom…
However, the hunting success rate of solitary predators is much lower than that of group predators.
Choosing to live in groups will help animals protect their territory, protect each other and support each other in hunting.
Among them, there are animals that are recognized as masters in coordinating hunting such as lions, wild dogs, hyenas, wolves…
The African wild dog is an animal that scientists consider to be the “top” species with an almost perfect skill set. If even for adept predators such as lions and hyenas, the hunting success rate is about 30%, while for African wild dogs this rate is approximately 80%.
The factor that makes the success of the wild dog is thanks to the combination of excellent individuals to form a strong team. Wild dogs are pack animals with high social organization and full of discipline. They usually hunt in groups of about 6-20. With skill, endurance and the ability to accelerate unexpectedly quickly from each individual in the group, when combined, they will form an extremely scary hunting collective.
As a herd predator, relying on the overwhelming majority to dominate, hyenas can be said to be a direct competitor for food with wild dogs.
Therefore, encounters between two swarms of predators among the best of the African wilds do happen from time to time.
The episode was filmed by a tour guide in South Africa. Accordingly, the group of tourists was moving on the main road when they encountered a small herd of hyenas including 3 who were looking for food.
Ghosts are carnivores, with a very wide range of activities, so meeting them in the wild is not uncommon.
However, on this hunting trip, it seems that the hyenas have strayed into the active territory of the wild dogs, this is taboo in nature, which can lead to extremely skirmishes. intense.
The pack of wild dogs, the most feared predators in the land, cannot ignore the encroachment from others.
They immediately signaled to summon the members of the herd to prepare for the battle to protect the territory.
The peak when the wild dogs of about 20 began to be ordered to attack by the leader was also the time when the hyenas used the tactic: “Three hexadecimals, escape from the top”, encountering an unfavorable situation, what crime. must stay in the confrontation.