Mother giraffe protects her badly injured calf from hungry hyenas
This is the dramatic moment a mother giraffe defended her badly injured calf from some hungry hyenas in South Africa on Friday (October 26).
"While driving alone in the Kruger Park, I spotted the most adorable baby giraffe with its mother," the filmer said.
"The calf started walking and I suddenly realized something terrible was wrong. The calf was limping badly and I was shocked to see the bottom part of its left back leg broken off," the filmer added.
"I soon realized this calf kept on looking back at hyenas following it. Hyenas are well known to take out any weak or injured prey and this limping baby giraffe was a loud dinner bell ringing," the filmer said.
"The video shows one hyena testing the situation while running towards the calf. At the same time, the mother was right nearby. One kick to the head with her large hooves will instantly kill a hyena," the filmer said.
"It became hot very quickly and the mother left her calf in the shade and went to feed about fifty meters away," the filmer said.
"Suddenly, the two hyenas came bursting out from behind a bush running towards the calf. The calf got a fright and with only three legs the giraffe still managed to run. At the same time, the mother giraffe was back to protect her calf in record time..the hyenas slowly moved away to lie down in the shade not too far away."
According to the filmer, the future of this injured calf looks bleak: with such a serious injury, it's a matter of time before either the hyenas or another group of predators tries again to make the kill.
