Female elephants broke their pelvis when the male tried to mate, died because they couldn’t get up to find food and became a feast for hyenas and vultures.
Employees of the Londolozi private reserve, South Africa, predict the young elephant’s carcass will attract scavengers to enjoy the feast for a while. “I imagine we will be able to observe an interesting scene for 4-5 days. But I miscalculated,” Earth Touch News quoted James Tyrrell, a guard at the reserve.
In just 36 hours, the hyenas and the vultures turned the body into a bare skeleton. On the first morning when Tyrrell arrived at the body, the hyenas had eaten a large chunk of meat.
Although hyenas are known for being dangerous scavengers, they are not as aggressive as lions, according to Tyrrell. Many pieces of meat scraps sometimes fly away while they tear the delicious pieces.
“I wouldn’t say hyenas are beautiful, but in the golden light of the sunset they certainly look more attractive,” said Tyrrell.
After the hyenas have eaten their fill of the stomach thanks to the abundant meat, it is the vulture’s turn. “There are about 200 of them: white-backed vultures, hat vultures, white-headed vultures, even a Cape vulture,” said Tyrrell.
While hyenas are absorbed in tearing large chunks of meat, vultures eat more efficiently by systematically pecking at each piece of meat.
The vultures scattered as a hyena returned to the body.
By the next morning, the skull, ribcage and scattered bits of flesh were all that remained of the carcass. The photo was taken less than 36 hours after the guards discovered the body. The hyena in the picture is taking advantage of the femur joint.
As for the young elephant’s death, Tyrrell speculated it was the result of an attack by another male elephant, although lions sometimes try their luck with large prey. The cause of the elephant’s death only became clearer after the carcass was scavenged by hyenas and vultures, revealing a broken pelvis. Tyrrell said the elephant was most likely injured when a large male elephant tried to mate with it. Unable to get up, it starved to death.
