Kevan Dobbie submitted this video to Latest Sightings. He filmed it at MalaMala in South Africa’s Sabi Sands Game Reserve
Dogs at the river
As Kevan’s video begins, a beautiful sight greets us. A pack of endangered African wild dogs are at the riverside, some of them cooling off in the shallow water.
Unlike Africa’s predatory cats, wild dogs seem to love taking a dip when the opportunity presents itself.
The pack includes several adults and a number of pups on the brink of adulthood.
Movement in the long grass
As they socialise in the shallows, the pups notice something moving in the long grass on the far side of the river. With their ears cocked in curiosity, they huddled together to take a closer look.
Still unable to see what it is, the dogs grow more alarmed as the unearthly cackling laughter echoes around. The commotion has the dogs riveted to the spot, but what is causing it?
Identity revealed
Subsequently, a head pops up above the tall grass, revealing the source of the movement and strange noises. It is a spotted hyena, one of several that seem to be fighting over the remains of a dead animal.
The hyena’s head is just visible in the top right quadrant of the image below.
While wild dogs are highly endangered, with fewer than 6000 thought to exist in the wild, spotted hyenas are common in wildlife areas across southern and eastern Africa.
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Similar but different
While the dogs look on, the ruckus over the rivers continues, with one of the hyenas seeming to pull the contested remains away from its clanmates.
Although both wild dogs and hyenas are social carnivores, wild dog communities are more cooperative in sharing food, while competition amongst hyenas is intense.
head
Then the video cuts to a new scene, and unfortunately, no context is provided to explain what may have happened.
One of the hyenas is now on the same side of the river as the dogs. While the dogs watch the hyena, the scavenger remains focused on the activity on the far bank.
It is, however, noteworthy that despite having a considerable numerical advantage over the hyena, the dogs are not aggressive towards it.
Generally, the relationship between the two species could be described as antagonistic. Being the bigger of the two, hyenas are known to steal food from dogs when the opportunity arises.
However, since the dogs have no food, nor have any designs on the hyenas’ food, they are content to watch from a safe distance.
The disinterest is mutual
Equally, the hyena shows no interest in the dogs. If anything, as the commotion on the far bank subsides, it seems curious about something in the water.
Tentatively, the hyena approaches the water, appearing to sniff the air carefully. Then, again for reasons unknown, it suddenly jumps back from the water’s edge.
We can only speculate that there must have been movement in the water that momentarily frightened the hyena. It may have been a crocodile beneath the surface.
As the video concludes, we are none the wiser. The hyena continues to watch the water while the dogs look on.