Baby warthogs are vulnerable to many threats. The bushveld is filled with imposing predators, such as lions and leopards. However, some of the greatest threats to the young do not come from within the bushveld but from above.
In this case, while the warthogs might have surveyed the bushveld for threats while exploring early one morning, they failed to look up to the treetops and to the sky, where a Martial Eagle prepared its descent upon one of the little ones.
Family of warthogs spotted during early morning game drive
Nazeem explained he had filmed the sighting early one morning, on a drive near the Malelane Gate.
The drive had been quite uneventful, according to him. That was, until a warthog family came into view.
Warthogs by nature are interesting animals to watch – more so, when little ones are with them. They run in a line, the line ones with their tails in the air. It all makes for pleasant, humorous viewing.
Warthogs continue steady trot across the sand road
The warthog family were very deliberate in their steady trot forwards. They ran militantly across a sand road, in beautiful linear formation as warthogs tend to do. This means, everyone in a line.
All seemed pleasant until an unexpected intruder emerged on the horizon.
Martial eagle seizes baby warthog
The intruder was a Martial Eagle, which descended like lightening upon one of the young animals.
It took a moment for the spectators to realise what had happened. The eagle remained on the ground, sitting over its trophy. It was a somber moment, however, there was something ethereal and breathtaking about the eagle’s majestic spread of wings, and its steely, determined gaze – even as it paused on the ground, its prey in its grip.
“My son was first to notice the eagle swoop in from the left, just out of shot and thankfully I maintained a steady hand and kept the piglets in focus. Only once the Eagle hooked its target did I realise just what a remarkable sighting I had just caught!”
Warthog wrestles for freedom
However, the baby warthog wasn’t about to take easily to bring caught by the eagle. It put up a fight, and the eagle lifted up, to show the kicking and protesting of the small animal beneath it.
The spectators could be heard saying with surprise that the animal was still alive.
What ensued was some tragic wrestling – tragic, because it was clear the small warthog wasn’t going to get away so easily. The will to live is strong in all animals, and this one was no different.
While it put up a determined fight to stay alive, it eventually succumbed to the eagle’s attack.
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“Excitement naturally took over,” said Nazeem. “We remained with the kill, despite the many cars which stopped to investigate the sighting but who left soon after.”
Two hours later, the eagle, with the piglet secured in its talon, walked across the S114 to a nearby bush under which it fed.
“The Martial Eagle is one of the most majestic and elegant of the eagle species. Seeing one execute a successful kill after remaining so well-hidden was a once in a lifetime sighting. I hope all Kruger and bird lovers enjoy this video as much as my family and I did of the sighting in person.”