Circling vultures overhead is not
an an unusual occurrence in the lowveld. But when they put their landing gear
out and dive down to the ground, you know there is something there worth
checking out.
We arrived at the "scene of
the crime" to a mass of vultures, some perched in the trees, others hoping
on the ground, and then we saw it; a hyge male kudu carcass, with a
lonely hyena guarding it like his life depended on it. As we watched, a
battle waged between the hyena and the vultures, who outnumbered him
about 50 to 1...and that was just on the ground. With the hyena head down and
gorging himself, the vultures kept creeping forward closer and closer, until
they got to the point they could have a nibble, only for the feeding hyena to
leap up and chase them all away. We watched this play out about 10 times over,
with new vultures landing every few minutes to get in on the action. The
hyena must have thought enough was enough though and eventually sulked off, but
not without taking a final vicious snap and swipe at the vultures.
The vultures couldn't believe
their luck at his departure and before we could even blink, they mobbed the
carcass to the point where we could see nothing but feathers and hear nothing
but squabbling.
Their joy didn't last long though, because less then a minute
after the hyena left, a young male leopard, the Torchwood male, darted out of
the bushes towards the carcass. A second round of hysteria errupted with
vultures scattering in all directions, leaving us ducking and diving around in
the car to avoid a talon in the eye. Now clear of vultures (who as it turns out
has huge respect for leopards and none for hyenas), Torchwood tucked in happily
to the meat, similarly joyous with his find.
Things in the bush have a
tendency to swing in round-abouts though - another 5 minutes later we spotted
not one, but three hyenas, jogging back towards the carcass. At the last
minute, Torchwood spotted them, and darted up the Marula tree, under which the
carcass was lying. Hissing and snarling at the hyenas below (who had now well
and truly taken over the carcass again), Torchwood eventually settled up in the
tree, realising he may be in for a long wait. The vultures on the other hand
began their approach again, very pleased with the new turn of events.
