Snorkeling Hyenas: Video

I was out early in the morning and I hadn’t gone a kilometer down the road when I met up with a male hyena carrying a limb back to the clan. He turned to judge the threat and realized the familiar purr of Dozer’s 2.4L finely tuned motor almost immediately.

Readjusting his grip on what looked to be a Zebra front leg, he continued his trot along the road back in the direction of the den. After three kilometers or so he took a short cut through some thickets and I went around to meet him at Manuchi Pan. He was already there when I pulled up and the one older cub was at the pan gnawing on the limb. It wasn’t long before the gathering of the clan and the party once again got out of control.

The males love hanging around with the cubs, they run up and down chasing each other and wrestle around in the pan, this is very funny to watch.

I have been checking up on the dogs while Kim is away finalizing things on the Wild Dog movie. All the dogs are all doing well, they seem to be hunting early and catching quickly, because they are back at the den by 9:30/ 10 am. They’ve been heading straight into the hill where the den is after a short greeting ceremony and stay there until after 5pm every day so far. The pups are growing up fast, it’s been great spending time with them again.

I took a visit to the Hwata Pan which has dried up, and also to Chimize Pan, which is full at the moment. The white rhino have been drinking there and this is exactly what I’d hoped for. There were five rhinos nearby the pan, with a large male trying to chase the younger calves away from the female so he could get down to business. Things don’t always go as planned and for now he had to come up with a better plan to maneuver his way in there.

It feels good to be back in a routine after the whole buffalo capture saga, it really pays off, putting in the hours with the animal you’re working on, I’m getting some amazing footage at the pan lately. Yesterday I watched the hyenas take over the pan once again and refuse entry to all other animals waiting in the shadows. Eventually three warthogs were brave enough to challenge the hyenas and eventually came out tops. The hyenas end up giving each other a fright and when one panics they all high-tail it out of there. Another one for the hooves.