The Kennedy Pack were blissfully eating their catch of the day when a lioness caught them off-guard and grasped the alpha; the smart, wild dog played dead to get away.
Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe – During a bush drive, Calvet, a forty-five-year-old African Bush Camps’ guide, and his guests from Somalisa Camp came across a pack of wild dogs that just finished eating a kudu.
The wild dogs were surprised by a lioness, and one was caught. The lioness is one of Cecil’s daughters. Cecil was a famous lion, studied by the Oxford University and tragically baited and killed by Walter Palmer, a Minnesota dentist and avid trophy hunter. His daughter, quite famous herself, is currently nursing cubs not too far from Chris pan, where the sighting took place.
She fixed her eye’s on the pack and started to stalk them, in the flash of a moment, she pounced and managed to grab one of the dogs. As you can hear on the audio of the video, the Somalisa guests were in a slight state of shock, as the attack of the lioness came rather immediate and as a surprise.
It came as quite the shock to the guests and everyone watching the scene play out, knew the wild dog was a goner. She held onto the wild dog for a long time as it lay limp in her jaws. Everyone watching thought the wild dog was dead… But it wasn’t. Much like the ending of Harry Potter (sorry for the spoiler), as soon as the pack approached the lioness, she retaliated and let the wild dog go.
The intelligent dog sprang to its feet the moment she let go and made its escape. The guests were very relieved at this and were amazed to see how the wild dog was able to pretend to be dead for so long.
Since the video was filmed two weeks ago, it has been confirmed that both wild dogs survived the attack unharmed. “Notch” who was the intelligent dog playing dead, has been spotted looking healthy and still the alpha of his pack. He is also an expectant father-to-be, so his cunning behaviour has ensured his little will thrive.
This is an extremely rare sighting, and Calvet himself has never seen such a scenario in over ten years as a safari guide. His advice to someone who might have this same experience one day is to “keep an eye out for the underdog and to never underestimate wild dogs!”
Watch the incredible sighting below.
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