One of the most successful land predators on the planet, wild dogs are capable of some incredible long-distance running that makes them incredibly dangerous to any animal they’ve got in their sights as potential prey.
Leslie Edgar spotted this pack in a terrible sighting that saw the dogs narrowing their gaze onto an unlucky wildebeest that was still only a baby. Despite all of its beauty, nature is often also cruel.
Moving As A Pack
Like other animals that live in packs or clans, the danger that wild dogs represent grows the more of them there are. While packs of wild dogs vary hugely in size depending on the available space, prey, and competitors, they can number more than thirty individuals.
The pack that Leslie spotted had over ten dogs loping along the road as a cohesive unit, staying close enough that they could respond quickly if any threats suddenly emerged, or if one of them spotted something worth chasing.
The presence and sound of the vehicle didn’t intimidate the group of canines at all, and although the tour group spotted them weaving between bushes and shrubs on the side of the road, the pack quickly emerged fully.
Unparalleled Lethal Potential
Once on the road they ran just before Leslie’s vehicle, as if they were providing some kind of escort service. They showed no interest in the tourists that were watching them, but they also seemed to go out of their way to get in front of the vehicle and stay there.
Wild dogs have special adaptations in their feet that allow them to keep running over longer distances that many other animals would be able to manage, so it’s possible that they just preferred the use of the road over the uneven ground to either side of it.
It’s this same ability to consistently cover long distances which makes them so dangerous, as anything they’re chasing is likely to tire and slow before they will. While they might have looked cute keeping pace with the safari vehicle, this was also a display of hunting prowess.
Lethal Potential Realised
Leslie and the rest of the group were able to see this lethal potential translated directly into terrible action when the pride of dogs happened to come across a very unlucky baby wildebeest.
Far from being completely undefended, an adult, presumably the mother, was briefly seen making an attempt to save the baby, but the wild dogs had now congregated in such numbers that there was nothing a single wildebeest could do.
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A Sad End To A Short Life
If a single adult wildebeest could not oppose the tide of hungry dogs, then the child had no chance. In a matter of moments it was surrounded, dispatched, and then it was nothing but meat.
Despite the dangers they pose in numbers, wild dogs have learned to eat quickly as larger predators like lions and hyenas might be in the area, and these are capable of forcing the dogs away from their meal.
It wouldn’t take the dogs long to finish their grisly meal, while Leslie’s tour group, and a second vehicle, could do nothing but watch. The rules are different in the wild, and what is distressing for us to witness is vital for the survival of the dogs.