Hyena gets easy meal

While driving to the lodge in the early dawn light I noticed a large animal moving quickly from side to side with its nose nearly fixed on the ground. On closer inspection I saw it was a hyena moving along sniffing the ground obviously on something’s scent. It wasn’t concerned about the vehicle, which was unusual because hyenas on Phinda are generally nervous of them. It was clearly focussed on something else. In the distance I saw a group of six cheetah sitting very close to each other, some of them bending over with their noses in the grass. The hyena was obviously following their scent. The hyena then ran straight towards the cheetah scattering them in all directions. The hyena bent down and picked up a nyala ewe in its jaws and ran straight to the nearest thicket. The cheetah must have just killed the nyala as there was no blood or entrails hanging from it. I lost sight of the hyena but the cheetah sat and watched in bewilderment as their meal disappeared out of sight. After the game drive we then found tracks of a hyena on a road quite far from the killing site, and on each side of the tracks were drag marks, no doubt from the nyala it had stolen and was taking it back to its den site.

Posted: Phinda by Steve Fly, Date: 4 May 2008