It was another wonderful morning as we left for our early game drive from Buffalo Camp. We had not been driving for too long when we heard the call of Hyenas and the roar of Lions in the same direction. What else could we do but go and investigate?

When we arrived, we noticed that a baby Giraffe had been killed during the night or early hours of the morning. Even though we did not get to see the kill and the lions were no longer feeding, it was still an interesting opportunity for my guests to hear the call of the Hyena, as well as see how they break and chew on bones. Hyenas have one of the strongest jaw bones and they ensure that the bush is clean after a kill.

As I was explaining to my guest’s, some people don’t realize that hyenas and vultures play an important role in nature in cleaning up the bush and ensuring that there is no spread of the disease taking place. This was a perfect example to show them that nothing in the bush goes to waste as they have a reputation for eating the leftovers of other predators. Although, they are quite skilled predators themselves, and are quite capable of hunting and killing for most of their food.

It was a very good start to our morning and the guest’s loved seeing nature in action. Two of the Hyenas started walking down the road and we decided to follow them for a while and see where they were going.

Luckily for us, they went to the nearest waterhole and they started swimming. My guests were extremely happy as they I explained to them they are normally nocturnal animals but it is still possible to see them during the early morning before they go back to barrows or dens where they spent the day sleeping.

We left the two Hyenas still swimming in the dam and as we moved on we spotted another Hyena with her pups.

We were all extremely happy as we never thought we would see such an interesting variety of Hyenas this time of the day.

Story and photos by: Jeffrey Mmadi – Buffalo Camp