Water is the single most important resource for animal life. Its main value is for drinking, but it can also help animals keep cool during the hottest parts of the day.
This hyena may have enjoyed a nice drink before this footage began, but at the time this recording was taken it was enjoying a nice relaxing time in the water, letting the small ripples run along its fur as it bathed.
It was a particularly tranquil scene that was about to have a sizable dash of tension mixed in as a pack of wild dogs spied the water, and hurried over to get their own drink.
The Whole Gang’s Here
Although it was the wild dogs and hyenas that caused tension over the water supply, they weren’t the only animals present at the occasion. As the wild dogs bounded over to the hyena’s water, two giraffe’s looked on from afar.
It was probably wise of them to keep their distance while the two predators competed with each other. They weren’t the targets of any hunt at that time, but it might not have taken much for either dog or hyena to decide they were hungry as well as thirsty.
From their safe distance they could watch the events unfold, while still being able to turn and flee if things went poorly. As the bathing hyena watched the wild dogs moving quickly towards it, it seemed likely that things would go bad quickly.
A Diplomatic Approach
There weren’t many of the wild dogs, but they were numerous enough to pose a threat to the single hyena. While most wild dogs packs have less than twenty individuals, some of them can grow to double that size.
This lonely hyena didn’t have that many dogs to face, otherwise it might have thought better about staying put, but alone it would have been able to do little to resist them if it came to a fight. Individually it was bigger and stronger, but it only have one set of weapons.
The dogs must have known they had the advantage in numbers, but they took a remarkably diplomatic stance from the beginning of the encounter. One of the dogs placed itself between the hyena and the rest of the pack, while the others drank.
Tense Encounters Of The Close Kind
The muddy water didn’t seem like much of a prize, but it was desirable enough for the wild dogs to approach, and for the hyena to stand its ground. The hyena chose to affect a disinterested air in the intruders, but the dogs were very aware of it at all times.
Many of them kept their eyes warily on the other predator while they drank, and the individual they had appointed as a guard dog stayed between them at all times.
Ordinarily, these two competing predators would take a dim view on the other’s presence, and battle at a moment’s notice to steal land, prey, or other resources.
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The Truce At The Waterhole
The idea that animals agreed to be kind to each other at the waterhole is a myth. Many predators specifically choose waterholes as the grounds for an ambush because of the certainty that a prey animal will arrive sooner or later.
In this case though, the wild dogs and hyenas did indeed appear to declare a truce with each other. Despite their early tensions, the encounter passed without significant incident, and both wild dogs and hyena parted ways as uneasy allies.