Cats and Dogs

The predators in Africa are cats and dogs. They're beautiful (in their own way), amazing in how they hunt and just a bit scary. We saw some good ones.

We saw 4 lions--2 male and 2 female. The female in Picture 1 had been mating for 5 days, first with the male in Picture 2 and then with his brother, the male in Picture 1. At this point, she had been sound asleep when he started feeling amorous. She raised up and "smacked him up side of the head". After 5 days, you can imagine that lion conversation. We did see the pair in Picture 1 the next day--still mating--and watched them almost make a kill. Two male oryx (we'll have pictures when we do antelopes) were having a territorial dispute and the dominant oryx chased the other from his territory. The non-dominant oryx walked within 30 feet of the lion pair, not sensing them.They were flat on the ground in attack position, but he was a little too far away from them. Lions are opportunists--they expect their prey to come to them, usually no more than 20 feet away. Lions don't run fast and prefer stealing dinner from a cheetah.

The female lion in Picture 3 was getting ready to hunt for her 3 cubs, which she had hidden somewhere. We stopped for gin and tonic sundowners 200-300 yards away, watching her from a distance. A large male impala suddenly ran through the area close to us and she decided to investigate. She got within 100 yards of us--our guide had  us watching from the far side of the vehicle--and then laid down, planning to wait until dark to find an unsuspecting impala.

The leopard in Picture 4 was asleep when we arrived. After we woke her, she wandered 10 feet away and continued devouring a baby warthog. She eats everything, including bones and intestines, and then vomits the hair up--one giant hairball! In this case, the prey was on the ground, but often the leopard will drag it up into the tree to keep it from lions.

The cheetah in Picture 5 was hunting springbok when we arrived, got annoyed at us for disturbing him and walked away. You have to feel sorry for cheetahs. They can't drag their kill up into the tree like a leopard. Lions and hyenas will search for cheetahs and take their kills. Cheetahs can't put up a fight because they hunt alone and, if hurt by lion or hyena, would be unable to hunt. It's a hard life.

Picture 6 is the first of the dogs. This a bat-eared fox. There's usually a family--parents and kids. They eat pretty small stuff. One day we saw one try to get a baby ostrich, but that failed when Mother Ostrich attacked the fox.

Picture 7 shows the garbage cans of Africa--hyenas. They will eat ANYTHING! Their first choice is to steal someone else's kill. In a pack, they've even been known to chase a lion from its kill. They also eat carrion and will kill on their own if they don't have something that involves less work. This was a pack of 3 hyenas. One was injured--probably while stealing food from a lion. Because they hunt in a pack, the others will find the food and then feed the injured.

Picture 8 is a wild dog. This was the first time we've seen one of these. Their favorite dinner is impala and one of the other vehicles watched 3 dogs take down and devour an impala in a matter of a few minutes. They're vicious killers. They were almost extinct because farmers would poison them, so they wouldn't get their goats. They're now on the endangered list and their numbers are growing.

Picture 9 is a black-backed jackal. A family of jackals might take down a small impala, but in general, they eat smaller prey, like hares. 

What a treat to see these beautiful animals!