INTERACTION BETWEEN WARTHOGS AND OTHER PREDATORS IN THE CRATER

These are the hogs adapted in the savannah areas feed mainly on roots grasses and different shrubs This base on my field observation in the crater lodge since January 2005 until now Are about 6 different families of hogs based on the northern zone of lake magadi Right on the northern east of lake magadi to the area where by the roads make like a triangular shape there was a family of a mother with her three piglets approached the triangle from the western side next to the road there were thorn apple shrubs blocking the view from hogs family and on the eastern side of the road there was a wild Jacuzzi (mud pond) about three meters wide on the boarders of it laid two hyenas and the hogs kept approaching where the hyenas were We packed a car and wait thought that the hyenas and hogs didn’t see each other Surprisingly the hog family approached the pond and right in the middle of two hyenas they started wallowing! It took them 3 minutes of wallowing but the hyena’s did’nt even pay any attention on them until they left that was March 2005 Another incident happened in the hyena’s den it was in July 2005 the warthog was in the front followed by one hyena in a distance of about twenty meters apart both of them kept on approaching the dens then the wart hog went into the den first followed by the hyena it took almost like five minutes left us surprisingly without knowing what was going on inside that den, surprisingly came out the warthog safe and alive not even busting out in a speed very relaxing after three minutes came out the hyena still very relaxed as they both entered the den looks like they had a confidential meeting Another incident is between a family of warthog consisting of a mother and two piglets and another female warthog it was march 2006, just near to the kilima cha mawe meusi from a distance came that female from wallowing heading straight towards that family and started chasing that mother only not even showing any interest with the piglets, the chase was still on through even the herds of wildebeest and the wildebeest wade them off kept on chasing and the mother entered the whole in top speed in a reverse way and still the other hog tried to get her without any luck but rather than that one she decided to burry the other hog by using her nose to put the soil back into that whole after 5 minutes she lost interest and left after 2 minutes the mother came out but in a close look she had a wound on the side we were not sure if it came from the other hog or from the wildebeest came the piglets in a hurry to greet their mother after seeing her alive In may this year just on the northern of kilima ch mawe meusi there was a female lion walking on the road about thirty meters away blocked by shrubs came up a big male warthog and that lioness stop in a surprise jumped off the road and started crawling towards that hog they were now like twenty meters apart and the lioness went on the other side of the road and leave the hog the side that were together we didn’t know what was happening but in a few while the wind blew and we realized she was up wind and tried to dodge to be smelt by that warthog, she kept on crawling until they were opposite to each other she stayed low for a while and she came right on the road still staying low Then we saw her getting her muscles ready and the tail moving from one side to the other very slowly and then she jumped Surprisingly she came up with that warthog on her mouth but she caught that hog on a wrong direction face to face but on the back of the neck instead of the throat there was a lot of pushing and pulling each other on that lioness eyes she looked like trying to figure out how to kill that hog maybe smashed him to the cars or something and wow there was a flowing river Munger behind them and the lioness started pulling the hog into the river that’s the time we started to hear the hog screaming after seeing the water the lioness managed to take the hog to the river and …… drowned the hog came out bubbles and the hog gained the strength and push the lioness up and screeeeamed and get drowned again three times and the hog get exhausted and the lioness quickly to the throat and the hog died the whole process took half an hour and the lioness drag its prey to the other side of the river and we saw in a distance grasses shaking came out tiny four cubs about a month old That is the interactions between the warthogs and the predators down in the crater until their deth

Posted: Ngorongoro Crater by eddie isaac, Date: 9 April 2008