Photo: @momatiukeastcott/@thephotosociety | "The Kill" | Today carnivores bring their high octane drama to Chudob waterhole in Etosha National Park in Namibia. Once the dry season begins to ride on dusty sails of desert winds, the waterhole, a pretty oval of blue sunken in ochre banks, becomes an open air theater where wildlife plays are performed. None of them are rehearsed but all involve casts of characters arriving from the surrounding desert. Some are blood curdlingly brutal. Yet the "brutal" label is strictly human-made: for the predators of Africa such moral judgment is meaningless. John and I arrive too late to witness the opening act but learn about four young lions who showed up at Chudob soon after daybreak. The cats noticed a kudu bull with a set of magnificent corkscrew horns, who after seeking safety for nearly an hour in the deeper end of the pond tried to sneak away and escape. They pounced and had him down in seconds. We see act two: a carcass, with its bright magenta guts spilling out, and the lions, satiated, resting nearby. The day drags hotly. An elephant tries to chase the cats away, but they return as soon as he leaves. Then a new actor appears: a massive head, long neck, low hunches. A spotted hyena. It comes obliquely, as if the bloody carcass meant nothing at all. And, as the third act opens, the singing begins: a steady call of the clan, summoning its own. Soon another shape appears, and another. One lioness, the largest of the cats, tries to stem the flow but the invaders get hold of the the carcass and their song becomes a steady growl of triumph. Desperate, the lioness pounces on the rushing shadows, but they try to grab her from behind and she must crouch low to protect herself. She attacks again but the kudu carcass is now covered by so many spotted bodies only one hoofed foot pokes from under the mass of tearing, snapping and chewing hyenas. The play ends. There is no applause. But we have just witnessed a great performance about the price of life, at whatever cost. ©YvaMomatiuk #Namibia #Africa #lion #hyena #kill #waterhole #animals #water #wildlife #momatiukeastcott #Etosha #survival #desert #fight

thephotosocietyさん(@thephotosociety)が投稿した動画 - 2015/07/08 11:52:48