African wild dogs are most active in the early morning and from the late afternoon into the early evening. And yesterday morning guests from nThambo Tree Camp and Africa on Foot witnessed a thrilling hunt that ended in an impala kill.
Jochen Van de Perre, Videographer & Photographer based at Africa on Foot, tells us what happened:
“We found them on the Old Fence/Southern Boundary crossing, in the early morning. There were six of them, and on the move! We struggled to keep up with them and lost them in a drainage line. All game viewers left the sighting to look for other wildlife, but then I saw another dog cross into Ross, and this time close to Solar Panel Corner. Luan found the dogs again on the Human cutline, as they went full speed after an impala! Two dogs caught it, just on Pretorius, and we called in the others. To our surprise, there were 11 wild dogs! So some more popped up from who knows where. They ate down the impala in less that 10 minutes.”
A pack of wild dogs can consist of anything from 2 to 50 or more dogs, but most packs have between 8 and 11 adult members. Eack pack occupies a large home range and in the Kruger this averages at about 450km2 – which indicates how fortunate the guests were to witness this exciting sighting!
Watch the video below and enjoy the images, all captured by Mira and Jochen:
The dogs begin the chase!
Its difficult keeping up with them when they move at full speed!
An unfortunate impala is caught and the dogs begin to feed.
They tear the impala to pieces in a matter of minutes. Not for the feint of heart!
Luan Oosthuizen gets his guests into perfect position for a wonderful sighting.
Wild dog kill in the Klaserie
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