Durban – Those anticipating a peaceful and relaxing holiday at South Africa’s esteemed Kruger National Park should also prepare to see some bloodshed. After all, it is ‘the wild’.
A warthog was captured on film fighting for its life after being attacked by a leopard and a group of hyenas.
Wildlife enthusiast Christopher Tosi, who spent 86 days in the Kruger National Park raising funds for the Smile Foundation, spotted the battle for survival. His video was posted on Oovvuu earlier this month.
Tosi said he was approaching the Crocodile Bridge, in the southern part of the park, in Mpumalanga.
“I was driving at 30km/h with all the windows open. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the unmistakable flash of a leopard's tail and torso. I remember how tense everything about it was. Every muscle and fibre of the leopard was contracted. A split second later, the screams of the warthog began,” Tosi said.
A hyena was soon spotted in the bushes nearby and approached the leopard to try to steal its catch.
“When 3 more hyenas came charging in, without hesitation, the leopard instantly gave up the warthog to protect itself from harm. The battle was not over. The warthog now had to defend itself against 4 hyenas, frothing at the mouth for blood,” he added.
At one point in the battle, the lonely warthog had a hyena tearing at its tail end while the leopard was biting the top of its neck.
The warthog escaped, but sacrificed a large chunk of its flesh to the hyenas.
It took four hyenas and a leopard to get through the warthog's thick skin.
“Eventually, it made it into the safety of its burrow but I can't help but think that he had a long night to endure. It's an incredible feat for 1 warthog to fight off a leopard and hyenas!” Tosi said.
IOL
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