Vultures and the Cycle of Life

While on safari at Londolozi in South Africa my wife and I got to experience something very few people get to witness.

It was getting late in the morning when our guide found a Cheetah guarding a young wildebeest it had killed the night before. The three of us drove to the area and found the Cheetah lying next to the lifeless Wildebeest. Our guide, Tom, thought it was unusual that the Cheetah hadn't hide the carcass away from other predators. In fact, the wildebeest was lying out in the open for all to see, especially the opportunistic vultures.

Tom thought that if the wildebeest was left out in the open for much longer vultures would see it from the sky, pay the Cheetah a visit and want their share of the prize. Tom said he couldn't guarantee vultures would find it, but if they did, they'd probably out number the single Cheetah and take the carcass from the original killer. He asked if we wanted to hang out for a while and see what events would unfold. We quickly replied, "yes of course".

This was one of the reasons we had hired a private guide. We wanted the option of hanging out, watching animals with no hurried agenda. We didn't want to be in a situation where we felt pressured to compromise our photographic desires against other people in the vehicle.

Tom parked the rig in the shade of a nearby tree and we scanned the cloudless skies for the large birds. Within ten minutes a single vulture saw the two animals lying in the open and started it's wide downward spiral to investigate. Now on the ground, the large bird walked as close to the dead wildebeest as the Cheetah would allow it. Each time the lone vulture walked too close, the Cheetah would rise and charge the eager bird only to have the vulture jump into the air safely away from the Cheetah. Finally, the Cheetah realized it wasn't a good idea to leave the deceased out for all to see and dragged it to the shady side of a small bush.

However, it was too late. While the Cheetah had been dragging the carcass to the shade, unbeknownst to us, vultures had been accumulating above our Range Rover. When we looked up we saw dozens of vultures circling and starting their descent.

Without a top on the rig, I removed the Nikon D2x and 200mm-400mm f4.0 from my tripod and hand held the camera while lying on my back stretched out on the bench seat. I could easily pick out a vulture coming in, focus and fire off many images before it was too close for autofocus to work. I would look up, find a new vulture and again fire off as many images as I could before it got too close. I probably did this for about a dozen vultures.

Now on the ground, inching their way closer to the dead wildebeest, the three dozen vultures simply out numbered the lone Cheetah. It had no choice but to walk away from its kill and food source. It couldn't risk the chance of getting hurt or being killed trying to defend its prey.

As soon as the Cheetah was away from the wildebeest the vultures jumped on top of the carcass and began their feeding frenzy. There was not enough room for all the vultures so they piled on top of one another trying to get their fill.

Within 15 minutes of watching and listening to these unattractive birds the only remains of the wildebeest were the bones of the skeleton.

It was an amazing event to be a part of...from the prediction of what usually happens out in the African bush to it actually happening, it was something I'll never forget.

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