In this footage, a pack of dogs gangs up to spoil a hyena’s spa day. Interestingly, the two species have a history of mutual acceptance.
Heine Thom of Kruger Park Safaris & Tours submitted this fascinating footage. He filmed it on the Ngobeni Short Loop in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
Watch the video now:
Background info
According to Heine, he had previously witnessed the hyena and wild dogs featured in this article interacting peacefully. Accordingly, when he found them together again three weeks later, he started filming.
Cooling off
According to Heine, after the wild dogs harassed the hyena, it moved off to a nearby stream to cool off.
However, as he rolled around in the shallows, he looked over to see that a wild dog was about to interrupt him.
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Here comes trouble
Subsequently, one of the wild dogs came over. Initially, the hyena seemed unperturbed.
However, when a second dog arrived, he knew his relaxation was about to end. Meanwhile, when the first dog saw it had back-up, it felt emboldened to nip the hyena’s rump.
Naturally, the hyena turned to defend itself and lunged at its tormentors.
As Heine commented, though, the hyena exercised restraint, considering the awesome power of its jaws.
Surrounded
While the hyena could more or less cope with two dogs, when a third arrived, he was well and truly outnumbered.
For the dogs, their numerical advantage meant that while two distracted the hyena, the third could rush in and bite its hindquarters.
Despite the mobbing behaviour, Heine said he sensed that both species were showing restraint. With the hyena boasting incredible jaw strength and the dogs enjoying numerical superiority, they could easily have inflicted injuries on each other had this been a full-blown battle.
The hyena’s behaviour particularly impressed him, as it used both terrain and defensive posturing to stop the encounter from getting out of hand.
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No injuries inflicted
Heine said that the entire interaction took place over about thirty minutes. He said that after periods of calm, the dogs would return to resume their bullying behaviour.
Even so, despite the repeated nips from the dogs, none of the bites were sufficient to draw blood, and none of the animals were injured.
Considering that the animals had previously been seen interacting, it is difficult to attribute this behaviour to any intended outcome. That said, it seems most likely the dogs were trying to deter the hyena from following them.
However, after half an hour of harassment, the dogs suddenly ceased their aggression and moved off. Strangely, the hyena then moved over to join them as if nothing had happened.
Nature’s unpredictability
As Heine later commented, “It appeared that this wild dog pack had become familiar with this particular hyena and accepted him as a regular follower rather than an immediate danger.
“Nature is not always simply predator versus predator. Sometimes the relationships between animals are built on competition, respect, and understanding each other’s boundaries.”