A dazzle of zebras comes down to a waterhole for a drink, and a crocodile grabs one and refuses to let go. Will the zebra escape the crocodile’s death grip? This happened between Orpen Camp and Satara Camp in the Kruger National Park.
51-Year-old Project controls manager working at Phalaborwa Copper, Jantjie Bessenger, was fortunate enough to witness this moment with his son Jan-Hendrik and daughter Jannelize. Jantjie shared the story with LatestSightings.com:
“My family and I entered Phalaborwa gate in the morning to spend the day in the park. We enjoyed a day of sightings and laughs. Sadly, we missed 2 leopard sightings which my son had told us about – because we chose to ignore him. Later that day, upon our return, my son suggested we take a gravel road, thankfully this time we obeyed.”
“We approached a small waterhole where zebras were making their way down to drink. My son remarked that the crocodile in the waterhole would catch a zebra. We laughed at him, thinking the hippos would have chased the crocodile away by now (There weren’t even any hippos!). The zebras started to drink, and within 30 seconds a crocodile leapt out of the water and grabbed a zebra by the jaw.”
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“A massive tussle entailed, and the crocodile pulled the zebra into the water. The zebra stood its ground and kept fighting back, eventually dragging the crocodile out of the water. Finally, the zebra managed to escape the crocodile’s death grip and ran off with its herd. Thankfully for the zebra, it got to live another day.”
“It was an amazing sighting, in every sense, and was very rare. In all my life, I still have not seen an actual kill in the park. This was the closest ever.”
“My advice would be to go out early morning or late afternoon, drive slowly, and observe general animal behavior. This will get you to see more than your usual day-to-day game. Enjoy the park, look at everything and appreciate wildlife at its full capacity!”
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