This chaotic sighting was sent in by Mandy Taplin, who was on a morning drive with Ethnic Nature Safari Tours in Moremi, Botswana. She told Latest Sightings it was their last game drive of their four-night stay.
They saw the buffalo at “around 8 a.m.,” she said, after seeing “wildebeest, zebra, impala, giraffe, jackal, saddle-billed storks, wattled cranes, and two male lions”.
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It had been a busy morning, but a brutal turn was coming as they spotted “what looked like calves playing” among the herd of distant buffalo.
Ominous Wild Dog Sighting
Mandy said that she and her group had heard a pack of wild dogs “two nights prior, but were unable to locate them.” As they closed in on the buffalo herd, they realized a pack of dogs, likely the same ones, had beaten them to it.
African wild dog packs can include up to thirty adults, or even more, along with their pups. This pack was large, some members were already feeding while others continued the chase.
When Mandy’s group arrived at the sighting, she said, “We saw that the buffalo herd had been split, and in the middle, the wild dogs were actually eating two buffalo calves”.
The Most Successful Land Predator
Only two calves couldn’t satisfy a wild dog pack of this size and had the buffalo herd on the run, putting the vulnerable young within reach. They used their endurance to keep going after the exhausted buffalo.
As Mandy’s vehicle moved to follow the hunt, a squad of wild dogs swarmed another calf, completely isolating it from the rest of the herd. The calf’s cry signaled a meal for the dogs, a brutal cue that another kill was underway
These wild dogs have perfectly evolved for the hunt, having a higher hunting success rate than all the big cats. Against their pursuit and coordination, the herd didn’t stand a chance.
Calf Number Four
Buffalo are instinctively protective of their young, and they aren’t willing to leave this one behind. Some of these adults even came over to see if they could intervene, but the dogs chased them off and took yet another separated calf.
Buffalo usually defend their young by forming a circle with their horns facing toward the threat. This strategy is effective against various predators if the buffalo have enough time to organize themselves.
But this herd was in disarray. The dogs were already in their lines, biting the back legs of the vulnerable calf before the adults could organize a charge. Soon, the dogs were dragging the calf away.
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Horrifically Efficient Hunters
Mandy told Latest Sightings that in the confusion, another four buffalo and “One calf were left separated from the herd, and the dogs made short work of taking that calf as well.”
After the chaos, the pack ended up with five calves from the buffalo herd. Mandy said, “This was so exciting to see, it was also very sad and exceptionally gruesome to watch.”
Despite the emotional nature of this sighting, it was an opportunity to see nature’s greatest hunters at work and appreciate just how efficient they are at securing a kill.
