D52….Nature Can be Cruel.

The day started with a 6am game drive. It was a clear warm morning. Quite early on we arrived at a waterhole. Sadly there was another dead elephant, on the fringe of the pan, in some shallow water. There were vultures sitting around and red around the elephants upturned eye where they had been pecking. It had clearly only died that night. We climbed out of the landrover and walked over to look. We noticed that the water surrounding the back of the animal was bright red. The back of the carcass had been slightly opened up and eaten. We found fresh hyena tracks. We stood looking sadly at the demise of such a grand creature when we had a shock. It moved its leg. It was still breathing, and blinking through an unseeing eye. When an elephant dies of starvation it is not a simple affair of just keeling over. It is a slow and unpleasant process. Nature has its ways.

On a brighter note the day ended with a sighting of the dominant male lion. He has defended his territory for many years. He is a magnificent Kalahari lion, reknowned for their size, with a big black mane. He was quite a sight. J