These wild dogs set themselves the significant challenge of bringing down a fully grown buffalo more than twice their height.

Oscar Betts

This confrontation was spotted and sent in by Mark Nicholson, a lodge manager and guide at the Old Mondoro Bush Camp, and Kevin Dersley, one of his guests, while they were in the Lower Zambezi National Park.

Mark said he knew where to find the the wild dogs as they were “denning not too far from camp”, and so they were fortunate enough to find the dogs midway through hunting prey far larger than themselves.

Apparently, Mark had “seen them attempt to hunt amongst a herd before – trying to separate a youngster or weak individual but had never seen them have any success”.

African wild dogs prey on a wide variety of animals, with a preference for those with hooves. While it’s rare for them to hunt buffalo due to their immense size, they won’t turn it down if they can get it.

Wild dogs are endurance runners, and a pack can follow potential prey for vast distances, ensuring that potentially wounded animals have little chance of escaping.

Like other pack hunters, they focus their efforts on prey that is separated from the rest of the herd and vulnerable as a result.

In this case, the wild dogs pursued the buffalo from an open plain to a more wooded area where Mark said they “managed to separate an adult female from the herd”. Once they’d cornered the buffalo, it was time for them to bring it down.

The cost of their incredible endurance running is the high expenditure of energy, meaning that every meal is valuable and they need to consume it before scavenging competitors like hyenas arrive to contest the meal.

This often leads to distressing moments as they begin consuming their prey before it’s dead.

As Mark observed, as soon as they had the adult buffalo separated from her herd, “they went into overdrive and started biting and pulling her hindquarters and legs”.

Several also targeted her head, appearing to bite down on her nose and face, making it almost impossible for her to even consider defending herself with her horns.

The sheer number of wild dogs swarming over their prey meant that the other buffalo who tried to come to her aid couldn’t get close. There were enough dogs to break off the attack and deter potential saviors while the others continued their grisly work.

African wild dogs can have pack sizes of up to forty individuals, making this a middle-sized group, but they’re still enough to overwhelm large prey like this buffalo.

When working together like this, over three quarters of wild dog hunts are successful, making them more efficient than competing predators.

Despite this success in securing food, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature has listed them as endangered.

Largely due to conflict with humans, their population has been eradicated in some parts of the continent, and is declining in those areas where they still exist.