On a recent safari with guest Jackson Steele, his wife and friends, one sighting in particular stood out for us all. Jackson takes us through it below:
Game Drive #5 of 16 – Wednesday, August 28 – afternoon drive…
Our afternoon game drive was transformed into an unforgettable safari highlight by a radio call that a very young giraffe was lying dead, guarded by its mother.
En route to the scene, we could see a column of vultures circling overhead in the distance. Arriving on site at 4:30pm, we found a roughly 150 lb dead baby giraffe near a knobthorn tree, with the mother hovering nearby. About 50 yards away in the bush lay the Tortoise Pan male leopard. From puncture marks on the corpse’s neck, we surmised that the feeding mother had strayed too far from her calf, and that the leopard had taken advantage, but before it could feed or hoist the corpse, he was driven away by the return of the mother giraffe.
Leopards aren’t normally a threat to giraffes – as evidenced by the Nanga female passing so close to this one – but a small calf is vulnerable to attack by a large male leopard.
30 minutes after our arrival, a young hyena came to the scene and settled down 50 yards from the corpse and 75 yards from the resting leopard.
After another 30 minutes, a second hyena joined the first. For the next hour, the mother giraffe never strayed far from her lifeless calf, returning time after time to lower her head a few feet from the corpse. This stalemate continued, and looked like it might go on interminably, giving our Land Rover Defender a chance to slip away a couple of hundred yards for wine and gin and tonic, without missing out on any action, although as the minutes dragged on and on, we began to wonder if we could wait out a resolution.
With sunset at 5:30pm, it was completely dark by 6:15pm, with no change in the on-scene dynamics, and at that point, it appeared unlikely anything would change before our self-imposed 7:00pm departure deadline. Luckily, the dynamics began changing shortly thereafter, eventually resulting in what our ranger Rob Jeffery said was one of the most memorable experiences of his guiding career.
As the sun set into the blackest of night, the female giraffe still remained in defence of her dead calf.
In the twilight we noticed the leopard gradually creep out of the bush to a point only 25 yards from the fallen prey. The two hyenas also noticed, and while the cow giraffe moved off a bit, the hyenas moved forward, forcing the leopard off the scene, then settled back down to wait for the mother giraffe to hopefully leave. We then heard the hoofbeats and alarm calls of running zebra up the long incline in the distance. At about that same time, the hyenas began moving steadily toward the corpse, although the mother was still standing guard, never leaving her calf’s side. When the hyenas got too close for comfort, the mother giraffe charged them, letting out a long, loud guttural alarm call.
As the hyenas scattered, pandemonium broke out as the 14-strong Ntsevu pride of lions, who apparently had been hunting the zebras and had clearly heard the alarm call of the giraffe, charged down the hill at full speed, hurtling by on either side of our Land Rover. Pursued by the 6 adult lionesses, the mother giraffe fled, and was fortunate to avoid tripping in the darkness and was thus able to escape as the pursuing lionesses soon returned. By then, the 8 younger members of the pride also were on the scene, and the hyenas had wisely vanished.
The pride began feasting on their good fortune, and at that point, everything seemed settled, except for the lions competing with each other for the meat of the young giraffe. However, out of the brush behind, a young bull elephant charged the feeding lions, temporarily scattering all but a couple of the adults. Having had its fun, the elephant retreated back into the bush and the pride returned to finish their dinner.
We continued to watch for another 15 minutes or so, finally leaving the scene 7:45pm to return to camp for our own, more civilized dinner.
Post by Jackson Steele, Londolozi Guest
Wow! This is amazing. From leopard to hyenas and lions, and an elephant. It is truly a once in a lifetime experience.
Rob, what a great story – I bet you were glad you waited🤗
Rob, what a great experience and thanks so much for sharing. Our Londolozi group frequently reminisce about our visit and can’t wait to return!
Hello Rob and Jackson,
What an inforgettable safari! Must have been enormously exciting! One never know what’s going to happen when one goes out on a safari drive…
Thank you for sharing your story! Good written!
Any giraffe’s death is a sad event but a young calf is particularly so. But such is the circle of life in Africa. Interesting that the hyenas missed out probably until all else had finished and the leopard never got any reward for the take-down. Again, the story of life in Africa!
How sad for the mother giraffe, but what an incredible experience for everyone. It is always so exciting to find what is around the corner. Victoria
Striking giraffe silhouette photo!
That had to have been the most amazing experience out of 16 drives. You never know what will happen and patience is key!
First I want to thank Jackson Steele for a very well written story of a most interesting layered account of a kill. I’ve never heard of so many various animals involved in one small kill. Your patience certainly paid off! I felt the heart break and courage of the lone mother determined to protect her own dead baby with all the layers of various animals involved. To have a rush of so many lions pass on either side of your Land Rover in the semi-darkness must have been the ultimate thrill! Even having the bull elephant suddenly appear bellowing, as if to say, “This is enough, already!” made me grin. Rob was right, this WAS a truly memorable experience! I’m happy for you.