The Dogs Of War Have Returned - Jongomero

(Click on Image to scroll through images).  After a pleasant Buffalo sighting of over 100 beasts the car moved on.  Just after crossing a small ridge a pride of 6 Lions were seen and they were taking more than a passing interest at the herd of Buffalo we had just left.  The Nyakapembe pride!!  This pride consists of 6 Lions, one of them a 3 month old cub, they were lean, hungry and carried an air of menace today.  Staking a claim near one of our permanent springs living is easy as they pick off the hapless prey as they are forced to quench their thirst at the spring, at this time of year one of the only water sources in the area.  Normally this pride is fat bellied and fast asleep dozing in the shade of a sausage tree.  Not today, a quick glance at the pride revealed that a kill was immanent.  The pride charged the Buffalo who were sent crashing into the thcik bush of a drainage line for protection.  The kill would now be obscured from the vehicle so Modest the guide drove up and down the drainage line trying to get a peek at the carnage that was happening within.  Using only sounds to try and dictate to his guests what was happening without a view they heard the bellowing of a Buffalo which had obviously been grabbed, the sudden appearance of a Lion with a mouthful of blood confirmed his suspicions.  However the battle was far from won, the bellowing of the wounded Buffalo casued the return of the rest of the herd who came thundering through the undergrowth to rescue their fallen comrade.  The Lions were now severly outnumbered and aborted the hunt, the Buffalo, although wounded will live to fight another day.  The Lions rtetreated to the open where the vehicle could now view them again and they were blessed with a wonderful sighting of the little cub.  Little did everyone know this day was about to get so much better.  The vehicle was pointed at the Lions and all attention was focused on them but Modest caught a glimpse of movement from his side mirror.  In his relaxed laid back manner he simply said 'You guys are lucky! Have a look behind!'  On turning round the guests could see the return of our Wild Dog pack who have had an increase in numbers and are now upto 28 animals!!  This was the first glimpse of these wonderful rare Icons of Africa so far this season.  Fairly common to be seen in the rains however in the dry season they dissapear from our area and have just decided to return.  The Dogs all trotted down to the spring edge for a cool refreshing drink and one or two even had a little wallow in the mud.  Relaxed and unperturbed by the vehicle we had a wonderful sigthing of these Dogs but we were not the only ones watching.  The Lions also were showing an interest in the Dogs and since no top carnivore like Lions will tolerate any other predator on their land they launched a full scale attack on the dogs.  Chaos ensued, the 28 Dogs panicked and scattered back to the safety of the thick bush.  Lions are much faster than Dogs over a short distance but the Dogs could see them coming and had a good head start and no animal can match the Dog for stamina.  Dogs and Lions mingled together accompanied by a cacophony of Cat growls and Dog barks and the whole mass of animals scattered into the thick bush away from the vehicle and as quick as the sighting started, it immediately ended.  There was not much to say after that, the Guests knew they had just seen a sighting of a lifetime and headed back to camp elated after another day in the African wilderness.  It does not get any better than that!!! Many thanks to Patrick Clementson for use of his pictures.