Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta)

[vinodkumarn]

Credits: ElephantPlains Game Lodge

The pig that caused a predicament

One cool and cloudy afternoon I decided to take my guest to our resident hyena clan’s den. The hyena den is usually very active in the cool weather. This particular day was no different. The babies were out of the den resting close to their mothers. It was not long before another youngster stuck its head out of the hole. The three youngsters started playing with a piece of dry wood that was laying on the ground close to the den. Their game was suddenly interrupted when a big warthog male arrived on the scene. The two mothers did not really know what to make of this so they did not pay a lot of attention to the warthog. The young hyenas moved closer to the safety of the den’s entrance. By now the sun was very low on the horizon and dusk was setting in fast. The thunder was roaring out of the southern part of the reserve announcing that rain was on the way. After a few minutes a sudden cold wind picked up charging through the trees around the den. The warthog moved closer and closer to the den keeping a watchful eye on the two hyena females. Both the hyena females and the three young pups were sitting at the den entrance watching the warthog as he came closer. Suddenly, without warning, the warthog male charged at the hyenas. The hyenas split into two groups, mothers ran away from the den and babies ran into the hole. The warthog charged after the hyena females chasing them away from the den. The warthog returned to the den entrance, turned around and reversed himself into the den. The hyena mothers looked on in disbelieve as the warthog male disappeared into the den. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to get the warthog out of the hole, the two females looked very puzzled. Just before we left this awesome sighting as it was getting darker. The one hyena female started calling for the rest of the group. On our way back to the lodge we couldn’t help to wonder what would happen to the poor babies. They were now stuck in the den with a big warthog blocking the entrance to the den. The next morning, we went out with first light to check up on the den and what happened during the night. On our arrival to the den it looked like all was back to normal.  15 Members of the clan was all moving around the den. Little did we know that all was not good in the hood as mister pig came flying out of the hole like a bat out of hell. This caused chaos amongst the hyenas and they scattered into different directions. The warthog continued to harass the hyena clan while he was feeding around the den. The warthog had a quick last feed and he was on his merry way leaving the hyena clan to regroup. The mothers immediately called the babies out from the den to see if they were fine. We all had a big sigh of relieve when the small babies peaked out from the safety of the hole. The clan had a very long greeting ceremony and they were extremely vocal throughout the rest of the morning. It was funny to see that the hyenas were running away from the warthog. As a rule, in the bush, the prey would usually run away from the predator, not the other way around…. Reply