Felids Interactions - Interspecific Conflicts

[Spalea]

Mark Dumbleton: " This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but this goes down as the most intense natural event I have ever witnessed. Watching any animal kill another is hectic, but watching a massive male Lion absolutely demolish this Hyena still sends chills down my spine. As I was witnessing this and photographing it, I was shaking, I can't even remember how I felt at the time as it was so intense.

It took a long while for me to calm my nerves, and still to this day I remember the sounds of the Hyena's neck being crushed by the Lion, bones breaking, the expressions of absolute despair in the Hyena, the ruthlessness of the male Lion adamant to inflict as much lethal damage as possible, an event that left me feeling very emotional, something that was very hard to witness.
As a photographer I am out in the field to capture nature as it is, I don't interfere, I photograph what I see and let nature do its thing. I'm sure many of you are looking at this image and asking yourself "Why didn't you interfere and help the Hyena?". Well, as much as we could have done something to try save the Hyena, nature follows it's own path and has its own set of agendas, and I feel we need to let nature follow that path without interference, allowing nature to create balance, a reason why life and death is an important part of what nature is.
The Hyena was very old, she was frail, slow, and found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Lion's attack was lethal, but he left the Hyena alive. I felt very uneasy while the Hyena was lying, motionless, suffering, gasping for air. I felt a huge sense of relief once the Hyena took her last breath and was finally at rest.
I'll never forget that morning. The morning I witnessed nature at her most brutal.
Zimanga Private Nature Reserve, South Africa | Nikon D850 | 200-500 f/5.6 @ 320mm | ISO 5000 | f/5.6 | 1/320sec exposure "

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