Armand related how the couple had come across the pack, consisting of around 12 members, as they drove towards the Matjulu waterhole.
Pack of wild dogs catches couple’s attention
“As my wife and I were driving, we first saw the iconic white tails waving through the bushes quite far away,” he recalled.
He said that they noticed that the wild dogs, around 80m away from where they were parked, were feasting on an impala kill.
With the carcass already completely devoured, a few started to walk around in the immediate area.
“We parked to see what would play out next,” he said.
The wild dogs explored the region, communicating among themselves. This was when Armand and his wife became aware of three zebras in the immediate vicinity.
“Three zebras then approached the waterhole, which was mostly muddy but still had some water in it,” said Armand.
He said the zebras spotted the pack of wild dogs and vice versa.
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Wild dogs and zebras stare at one another in tentative moment
The tension in the air was palpable as the zebras stared at the wild dogs, and the dogs stood to attention and stared back. It appeared both species were preparing for a showdown.
“The zebras stood still, keeping watch. Then the wild dogs slowly made their way towards the zebras and that’s when I started to record on my phone to catch the action.”
These zebras weren’t about to be intimidated by the wild dogs and even started to chase them.
There was a high-speed chase between one of the zebras and a wild dog, only this time it was the prey chasing the hunter!
“It was a back and forth ‘play’ almost, and so cool to see the wild dogs get chased by the zebras and a few moments later the zebras chased by the wild dogs,” Armand related.
“This went on for about 12 minutes back and forth.”
Pack members remain active and on high alert
After the zebras had chased the wild dogs, the pack members regrouped. They remained on high alert, surrounding the zebras as though planning an attack.
Although, as Armand explained, this was more ‘play’ than anything else. The wild dogs possibly realised that the trio of zebras wasn’t about to take any nonesense!
“I just thought it was such an interesting sighting too see them (wild dogs) trying their luck on much bigger pray,” said Armand, remembering the moment.
Wild dogs specialise in hunting medium-sized antelope. Zebras are not easy prey. This is for various reasons. They can bite and trample predators during a defense. They can also deliver powerful kicks which can seriously injure or kill a wild dog.
For this reason, wild dogs will usually only go for a zebra if it is a zebra foal, or if the animal is weakened, injured or isolated.
This trio presented too much of a challenge for the wild dogs to launch a serious hunt. Nevertheless, as Armand explained, it was amusing to watch each species have a go at the other. It’s moments like these which strengthen the pack for the real hunt.
