Wild dogs, hippos and waterbuck at Batlhako Dam in the Pilanesberg National Park
On Thursday, 11 May 2006, we went on an early morning game drive to the hide at Batlhako Dam. Shortly after entering the hide Beccy spotted a group of wild dogs chasing some antelope.
The vanguard of the wild dogs arrived at the dam's edge...
and searched for their prey.
Once spotted, the waterbuck young and females were pursued.
The waterbuck leapt into the water for safety.
While the adult females swam to across the dam to the right of the hide, the youngster swam off towards an island.
The waterbuck bull then ran onto the scene.
The male was extremely aggressive and set off after the wild dogs in defence of his harem.
Although outnumbered by 13 to 14 of the wild dogs, the male chased them away.
True to their name, the waterbuck swam strongly.
The young waterbuck climbed up onto an island.
The waterbuck nervously watched the pack of wild dogs.
Other members of the pack spotted a warthog (we think judging from the sounds it made) in a thicket right next to the hide. In no time the animal was flushed from the bush and killed. Unfortunately the grass was long and prevented us from getting any good photos of this kill.
A hippo cow and her calf approached the young waterbuck on the island.
The hippo clambered onto the island.
The confused waterbuck didn't know what the hippo wanted.
The wary waterbuck took its leave.
Still fearful of the wild dogs close by, the waterbuck tried to return to the island.
The hippo was now clearly in pursuit. By this time the hippo calf returned to the water.
The hippo submerged below the waterbuck...
and grabbed it. The waterbuck then let out a very loud, spine-chilling cry which echoed off the surrounding hills.
Even the wild dogs stopped feeding at the sound.
Some minutes later the hippo resurfaced still holding the now dead waterbuck.
The hippo later set off to investigate what the wild dogs were doing at the water's edge.
The hippo inspected the wild dogs' warthog kill before returning to the water.
Photos were taken with a Nikon D70 and Nikkor AF VR 80-400mm/4.5-5.6 lens.
All images are copyright Jonathan and Beccy Stones, 2006.