SAVUTE SAFARI LODGE
The clatter of leaves caught Lodge Manager Obie Magunga’s attention during his break at 6pm last night. When he went outside to investigate, he saw it all happen in a flash: a female wild dog nailed an impala.
I was walking back to a manager’s house from Room 2 when Obie called out:”Did you see the kill?” I hadn’t but a few more steps toward Obie and I would have landed right on the impala, which was stretched out on a bed of leaves as if sleeping. Obie and I moved around to crouch under a branch and watch what might happen next. “She’s gone to get the other dogs,” he said, and he was right. Soon a parade of wild dogs dashed in front of Obie’s house in the dry channel in front of the lodge. Obie figured the dogs would circle back to find their downed prey.
We knew the guests would be arriving soon from their afternoon game drives. We rushed to send word to the guides. As the moon was rising, we led guides and guests to the scene. Just as Obie predicted, the dogs had closed in and were tearing into their meal. One of the guides counted 7 dogs, but it was hard to count them because they were frenetic in their rush to gorge themselves on the fresh meat.
The guests stood no more than 10 metres away, with their cameras flashing, and the flashes gave the dog’s eyes an eerie, chilling glow. One guest later remarked she could not feel “joy” in watching the scene, but she acknowledged that she felt awe at being close to a natural event rarely witnessed by humans in such close proximity. It is thought that only about 5,500 of these endangered animals that can be found in Africa today, with Botswana regarded as home to the largest population.
This morning two bloodstains remained where the impala had lain. The hyenas came in the night to carry away the bones, Obie said. And not far from the site, a leopard in the moonlight sought its own meal in a tree nearby. Obie saw the leopard tracking the guinea fowl, sending the birds into a raucous clatter, an alarm sound that can signal a hunt is under way and, as he saw with the dogs, can portend the kill.With many thanks -MARIA HENSON, Desert & Delta Safaris Volunteer
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