Dholes or the Wild Dogs of Kabini are known to have their share of meat for the day. If the visitors are lucky enough, they would have a rare eye-catching moment with these efficient hunters of the wild. Our safari this evening we were lucky enough to witness a pack of Dholes on a kill.

Initially, we saw one member of the pack running ahead of our jeep; but when we approached the spot, the scenario was quite stunning.

Spotted Deer (Axis axis) and Dholes (Cuon alpinus)

A pack of eight Wild Dogs had already pulled down a stag of Spotted Deer.

Spotted Deer (Axis axis) and Dholes (Cuon alpinus)

The rump of the animal was badly injured and we realized that it was on the verge of death. Because of our presence the Wild Dogs dragged the Deer a little away and began to tear the flesh open.

Spotted Deer (Axis axis) and Dholes (Cuon alpinus)

In a matter of a few seconds, the stag was surrounded by Wild Dogs in all directions. While many of them were busy tearing off the flesh, some kept a closer look for possible intruders.

Spotted Deer (Axis axis) and Dholes (Cuon alpinus)

A little later, we noticed that some of the members of the pack were leaving the kill and had begun to move away.

Dholes (Cuon alpinus)

We were surprised! However, I knew instantly that they were going for water. Slowly, taking turns, the other members of the pack went to the nearby water body to quench their thirst.

Dhole (Cuon alpinus)

We waited for half an hour and in such a time they were about to finish more than half of the kill.

Spotted Deer (Axis axis) and Dholes (Cuon alpinus)

After taking a final look at the ill-fated stag, we proceeded on our safari in search of more animals.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Herbivores, Predators. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.