Watch the Sighting:
It was an exciting day in Hwange National Park when Calvet, a safari guide for African Bush Camps, and his guests discovered a pack of wild dogs with a kudu kill. The dogs were spending their afternoon resting and cooling down after the excitement of the morning’s hunt.
Too Close to Danger
Tensions began when a lioness appeared on the scene, eyeing the pack’s every move. This wasn’t just any old lion, however, this female was a local celebrity, a daughter of the famous ‘Cecil’ the lion.
Calvet and his group watched in anticipation as the lioness lowered herself into a crouch and began to inch towards the pack with deadly intent.
The Shocking Attack
Just then, Cecil’s daughter pounced! One of the wild dogs was unfortunately no match for her speed and accuracy.
Calvet’s guests gasped in shock, they couldn’t believe how immediate her attack was! The lioness walked around with the wild dog’s neck in her jaws and as its body hung limp and still, everyone assumed the worst for the dog.
While the safari-goers had given up hope, it appeared that the rest of the dog’s pack had not. Wild dogs are known for their fierce loyalty, and this day they were showcasing it proudly.
A Brilliant Escape
One of the pack members approached the lioness, taunting her to come and attack. When the dog finally got too close, she fell for the bait, dropping the dog she initially caught to chase after the other pack member.
To everyone’s surprise, the initial wild dog who everyone thought was dead, sprang to its feet the moment it hit the ground and dashed away making a miraculous escape. No one could believe their eyes, the dog had been playing dead the entire time!
Calvet followed up with the pack a couple weeks after the incident and was glad to find out that all pack members had survived the attack unharmed. It turns out that the dog who initially was attacked was the alpha of the pack whom the locals named “notch”.
Calvet recounted that he had never seen a sighting like this in over ten years of guiding safaris! His advice to safari-goers was to “keep an eye out for the underdog and to never underestimate wild dogs!”
The Ultimate Survival Trick
Apparent death is a survival behaviour so successful that it has been found in several different types of animals including insects, crustaceans, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. This trait is often triggered by a predatory attack, causing the animal’s body to go into tonic immobility (becoming temporarily paralyzed).
Even though these animals appear to be unconscious, they are still able to scan the environment to take advantage of any escape opportunities.
Get our Best Sightings as they Come in
Aside from using it to escape while caught (as seen with the wild dog), faking death is also useful for smaller prey to avoid being captured in the first place. Animals like the Virginia opossum will assume a dead posture when threatened, to avoid being caught by predators that catch live prey.
Finally, in some rare instances, predators themselves will use this strategy to attract prey. This can be seen in some cichlid species native to Africa, who will lay at the bottom of a lake in wait for an unsuspecting scavenger to attack.
This rare sighting teaches us that in the wild, survival is not just about strength, it’s about instinct and intelligence too!