Wild dog vs crocodile at DumaTau –

Location:   DumaTau Camp, Linyanti Concession, Botswana
Date:   25 May 2010
Observers:  Linda Dice, Ron Syens and Sefo Oganeditse

It was a typical tranquil afternoon in the Linyanti and we were busy watching a bachelor herd of young male elephants bathing in the Savute Channel. Sheer bliss… That all changed however when we sighted fresh wild dog tracks – the pack was heading east towards the DumaTau floodplain. We decided to pursue and see what they were up to.

We found the dogs just before sunset. They had just chased a sub-adult kudu right into the water. Panic stricken, the kudu must have felt it was the only route to escape.

Some of the pack were also  trying their luck on some red lechwe, but gave up the chase and came back to wait and see what the kudu’s next move would be – by this stage, the antelope was mired motionless in the middle of the floodplain.  One of the dogs then got into the water to try and force the kudu’s next move.  In response, the kudu splashed, noisily jumping deeper into the water.  Suddenly, the dog swam back to the safety of the bank. The dog’s reasoning would become very apparent shortly.

Two crocodiles (between two and three metres long) were then observed approaching the hapless kudu.  The first crocodile took a strike and missed, which was enough to drive the young kudu out of the water and right towards the hungry dogs.  The chase was on for about five minutes before the kudu ran back into the water again.

Two minutes later a shimmering wave headed towards the kudu. With the speed of a bolt of lightning, massive jaws came out of the water grabbing the defenseless kudu by the neck and pulling her down into the water, ultimately drowning her. The crocodile had won in this ‘match’ between these two predators of the Savute.