Many people would find it a strange thought, in our modern world of communication, that an individual might leave and never return with no clues as to what happened to them. For animals in the wild that can’t drop each other a text, this is a real possibility.
For animals with close-knit social bonds, this makes reunions touching affairs where they warmly welcome individuals back into the pride, herd, or clan. Megan Gordijn caught this returning hyena on camera near the Satara rest camp in the Kruger National Park.
Never Miss Sightings Just Like This One
This hyena managed to reunite happily with the rest of its clan, and many other success stories take place in the wilderness every day. Be sure to sign up to our WhatsApp groups so you can be the first to see cute sightings just like this one!
The Perfect Place For A Roadside Rest
The hyena family had crouched down low at the side of the road, with the adults looking slightly suspiciously up at the cars all around them. Meanwhile a particularly young looking cub poked its head up from the ditch at the side of the road.
Unlike the adults, this cub didn’t look particularly worried, and instead was looking around almost excitedly at the world just over the hill. The family might have been crossing the road when the cars appeared, or using it themselves.
Either way they’d huddled themselves around a small bush, and that was where they’d decided to stay while they waited for their family member to return to them.
The Returning Hero
The individual that returned to the clan might have gone in search of shelter, as the cubs were not safe in the exposed grassland at the side of the road, or it might have gone in search of food.
If it was the latter then the single hyena had been unsuccessful in securing food and had brought nothing back with it, unless it was the knowledge of where food might be found.
Despite this, the hyena was welcomed back warmly by the rest of the clan, with the hyenas bumping heads together and affectionately remaining close to one another.
The Next Generation
With the hyena clan reunited, and with more adults around for protection, the curious hyena cubs felt safer sticking their heads up above the parapets, and emerged from the side of the road.
The four cubs eagerly explored their immediate surroundings, sniffing curiously at everything from the grass, to the road, to each other, and the bush they’d been hiding behind only moments before.
They looked like they might burst out into play at any moment, but they were able to curb their enthusiasm for games at the apparent direction of the adults, who appeared to want to leave the roadside.
Get our Best Sightings as they Come in
Time To Move On
It was an idyllic little scene, watching this hyena family reunite with each other at the side of the road, but all good things must come to an end and eventually it was time for the animals to move on.
Out in the open with nowhere to go made the cubs dangerously exposed, and with more cubs than adults they were vulnerable to any predators in the area looking for a little snack.
At an unseen signal, the clan began moving out, crossing the road in front of the watching vehicles where they would continue their journey, and hopefully all have a happy and healthy future.