Not all conflicts take place between immense apex predators and desperate prey. Some battles take place on a smaller scale, without being any less important to the animals involved.
Charmaine Kritzinger, a fifty-seven-year-old wildlife enthusiast, saw the fierce battle between the baboon and the mongooses while she was relaxing outside, and managed to catch the contest on camera.
The smaller mongooses had a desperate defense on their paws as they found themselves under attack from two baboons which wanted to force their way through the mongoose tide to reach the baby mongooses they were protecting.
Strength In Numbers
Despite their best efforts, the baboons were unable to intimidate the mongooses, and the smaller mammals weren’t going to give up their young without a fight. In response to the baboon’s aggression they reared up in an impenetrable wall.
They moved in a perfectly synchronized wave motion, as if they all had one mind, and in so doing, they managed to negate the baboon’s size advantage.
This kind of behavior means that mongooses can defend themselves from a variety of threats, but it’s reliant on them being able to stay together, and it’s most effective against a single enemy. A mongoose separated from their fellows is vulnerable.
Nonplussed Baboon
For all its initial ferocity, the baboon was suddenly unsure exactly what to do with itself. The mongoose tide was capable of reacting quickly and decisively to its actions, and the baboon couldn’t get close enough to snatch one from the group.
There was a second baboon in the background, but it seemed content not to get involved in this battle, which was good news for the mongooses. If anything divided them at this point, their defense would crumble quickly.
All the small mammals had to do was keep it up. The baboon was specifically trying to get a baby which was sequestered in the center of the mongoose formation, but if it became too much hassle it might give up and leave them be.
A Deadly Dance
What quickly commenced was a dangerous dance of strike and retreat. The baboon seemed to know that while the mongoose defense was formidable, the slightest chink in their armor would allow it to break up the group.
United they could stand, but the attacking baboon worked hard to divide them, and it was starting to see some success. The occasional mongoose would end up separated from the band, but they always managed to rejoin the group before the frustrated baboon reached them.
The baboon circled the band, looking for an opening to attack without being attacked in return. It had come to play the long game that day, and its determination was about to start paying off.
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Round And Round They Go
In an attempt to scare the baboon away, the mongooses suddenly broke ranks and attacked, forcing it to retreat before they themselves reassembled their formation.
This made them vulnerable, however, and the baboon capitalized on the opportunity immediately. It seized a mongoose by its tail and just… started swinging.
The mongooses kept trying to reform their defense, but several times the baboon was able to grab them by their tails and swing them around before launching them into the distance, in a sighting which depicted a desperate battle, with surprisingly amusing tactics.
