Story from the field: Hyenas vs warthogs!

One of the best things about working in the field as an RA, is that each day is different and you never know what surprise the Mara will bring to you every day. Sometimes, we sit at a den and only few hyenas are there and they are just sleeping and no interaction is going on. But sometimes, the dens are very busy and very entertaining things happen. So today, let me tell you the story between hyenas and warthogs that happened at one of our dens a few weeks ago.

So, this den is a big complex with many holes communicating with each other’s. Both hyenas and warthogs were using those holes and they were very close neighbors. This night, many hyenas including cubs were at the den when warthogs arrived and wanted to go inside these holes. However, AQUA (the matriarch of Pond clan) wasn’t happy about that and started to chase the warthogs away. The warthogs were very determined to reach their holes and kept on coming back, but AQUA was also very determined to not let that happen. She chased them away several times and they kept on coming back, the warthogs were also chasing her away! After a while, we noticed that AQUA has a wound on her hip and that she is bleeding, she got speared by one of them!! When this happened, other hyenas (especially hyena mums) got excited and joined AQUA to chase these warthogs away. At the same time, they were also social sniffing the warthog’s holes, joined by some of the cubs.

At some point, a mom warthog and her baby manage to go through the hyena’s defense and reach their hole! When the hyenas noticed that, they all started to dig into that hole to reach them. The mama warthog got scared and managed to get away from the hole and escape the hyenas, but she left her baby behind… AQUA went right into that hole and dug in there for a good 15mins, being helped by three other hyenas. After some time, we hear some screams coming from inside the hole and we see AQUA coming out… with the baby warthog! She managed to get him inside the hole and she ran away with it to have a well-deserved snack for herself, she was not willing to share!

AQUA, the matriarch of Pond clan.