This past week, on the S25, wild dogs spotted 2 lion cubs in the road and thought they were in for a quick snack. Little did the pack know that 3 lionesses were waiting for them around the corner… Never mess with a mother lion!
Mark Whiley (a member of our community and app user) was following a pack of wild dogs on the famous S25 in Kruger. This road is known for its predator sightings, and Mark found out how special it can be firsthand.
It’s exciting to see wild dogs because they never miss a chance to grab a meal, and when you see them in the wild, the possibilities are endless (not to mention how rare they are to spot in the first place).
Mark followed the wild dogs until they reached a junction with the S26. Mark could make something out ahead of the pack, just past a low-level bridge, but it was hard to make out exactly what it was until they got closer. Then, the dogs took off.
It turned out to be two lion cubs in the road, all by themselves, and the wild dogs didn’t think twice about running to grab them. Lions never miss an opportunity to eliminate a wild dog, which makes lions one of their worst enemies. This means that when wild dogs have the chance to grab a lion cub, they certainly won’t miss it either.
It’s a sad reality in nature: predators see one another as competition and will gladly remove their competitors from the equation when given the chance. It was only a couple of weeks ago that we featured a video about 3 lions finding wild dog cubs in the road. Video below (it’s a really hard watch):
Seeing how merciless lions can be to wild dogs makes the wild dogs’ actions at the beginning of this video a lot more understandable. Fewer lions, ultimately, means a safer environment for the pack (vice versa), and that’s exactly what they were looking to achieve.
It took a strong nose and stronger instinct to stop the wild dogs in their tracks. Just before closing the gap on the lion cubs, the wild dogs had a sense that something was off. In hindsight, it almost appeared to have been a trap that the wild dogs caught on to as they ran on the bridge.
It was fascinating to see how they stopped to look around, and then it was chaos! In the blink of an eye, three very defensive lionesses came rushing onto the road from the bushes around the corner, and the wild dogs naturally scattered in every direction.
There is nothing scarier than a charging lion for a wild dog, so trying to imagine what it looked like for this pack to see three angry lionesses running at them with intent from only a few meters away is no easy feat!
It’s safe to assume that these wild dogs immediately regretted rushing towards the lion cubs. Had it not been for their strong gut feeling to stop their pursuit, things could have ended in tragedy for one of the wild dogs.
As the situation stood, the wild dogs ended up with a massive change of script: they’re the ones that ended up fleeing from lions. Luckily, the interaction ended with no casualties.
The lionesses reunited with their cubs shortly after. The little ones must have been frightened during the incident, but with such a brave and strong family that has their backs, their fears must have subsided quickly.
