Articles

Articles

Predation is a form of symbiosis, perhaps not mutually beneficial as far as the two individuals are concerned but it certainly has played a highly constructive role in the development of the species involved. In this scene many species of plants and animals have at some point been involved in the sequences that led to the kill.

Reconstruction through fractional evidence (that’s what this picture is) often leads to creative interpretation or hypotheses – the more information that becomes available the more the interpretation will change but for the time being, a good understanding of how these two animals behave, how they move, what they eat and what has caused them to end up captured in this picture is a beginning of a trip through the sciences.

We know that hyenas could easily have robbed this impala from another predator – we also know that these could quite as easily have hunted and killed the impala themselves.

In order to interpret the events that lead to this kill will require that all the available factual bits and pieces have to be assembled.

1. There is no bite mark or wound on the impala's throat or neck but rather initiates from the impala's back just above the belly - or even from its belly - non the less the impala has been ripped in half lying with its hind legs twisted over, belly opened, and in front of its front legs..
2. The Impala looks like it was a healthy ram
3. The hyena has dried blood smudged on its neck
4. The impala in this instance has only recently been fed on, and rigamortus has not yet set in.Point one would suggest that a cheetah would probably not have killed this impala, as cheetah almost certainly would deliver a suffocating throat bite because their canine teeth are not long enough for the bite to the back of the neck that other cats often employ.

Also, unless the impala was stolen immediately after the kill – a cheetah would more than likely have started feeding at the thinnest skin – the groin because cheetah’s do not have strong enough teeth to pierce the tough skin of even small antelopes.

Lions bring ungulates the size of an impala down with a slap on the haunch, tripped or clutched with both paws and then dragged down and killed with a bite to the neck or throat – lions inherently use their size to gain leverage and so often may grip their victim’s neck, shoulders or back in order to manouver itself around the antelope to deliver a strangle bite to the back of the neck or throat.

Leopards try to pounce on their quarry before there is time to escape, and then take it up a tree to eat at leisure away from the competition.

All cats use a very precise bite to kill small prey – a canine tooth is inserted between the cervical vertebrae, separating them in order to sever the spinal chord, bringing immediate death. Larger cats use a suffocating bite by holding the muzzle or throat of the prey with jaws designed to hold the grip with sustained force. Depending on the size of the prey, and the size of the cat – feeding is almost always started beginning with the head (small prey) or beginning at the belly or chest when it comes to the larger prey.

Hyenas do not have any special killing bite, and in most instances will hunt in pairs or packs and run down the intended prey until the prey is exhausted. Hyenas do not relay on stealth or speed but rather endurance. They will often initiate a lopping gallop towards a herd of impalas just to see if they can isolate an individual who intern flees away from the herd and can then be run down by the formidable stamina of hyenas. There were two hyenas at this site – the more dominant hyena is feeding, and the smaller (male) has stood down after what looks like a brief struggle denoted by the several bite marks on the waiting hyena’s flanks and back.