Baby elephant drowns, whole eco system benefits….
A baby elephant drowned in Makulu dam two days ago and boy did we have some good sightings of various aquatic creatures that benefitted from that…
At first the crocodiles swarmed in around the floating carcass. The carcass slowly opened up as they made their way through the softening skin which in turn attracted a whole host of other species to share in the feast. Soon the sharptooth catfish and tilapias joined to get to the fermented stomach content that started floating around the carcass.
It was’nt long for the ever inquisitive hippo’s to explore around the feeding frenzy and they soon started chasing the croc’s away to chew and bite at the carcass themselves… Odd? Not really. It is very common for all animals (being very diet specific, like carnivores or herbivores) to seek additional nutrients from other sources and in this case the hippo’s (herbivores) might have gained additional proteins form ingesting a little bit of meat. Biting away at the floating body and pushing it around surely entertained us all, it was truly an amazing sighting!!
Kind regards,
Morné Hamlyn
Kings Camp guide.
Your story is captivating Morné and the shots are unbelievable! Never a dull moment in Africa, especially when you are in the bush… At least now all of us city folk can get a taste of your experiences in the bush on a daily basis. Makes me want to visit Kings Camp again. Thanks.