This video shot at the end of April by a 73-year-old visitor to the Kruger National Park, Mike Johnson, shows a waterbuck struggling to free itself from the jaws of a crocodile on the banks of a river.
Mike told Latest Sightings, ‘We were driving towards Satara and stopped at the dam to have a look. There was a splash at the far end of the dam. Thinking it was hippo, we did not pay much attention to it at first, but when a group of waterbuck appeared seemingly agitated, and we saw that one was struggling with something, I attached a 500mm lens to my camera to get a better look what was happening.’
Mike went on to explain that through the lens he could see that a waterbuck had dragged a crocodile that was holding on to it with its teeth out of the water, and that the crocodile was trying to pull the buck back in.
The croc managed to gain some ground and pull the buck back to the water’s edge, where it lay still for a while. ‘After a short breather, the waterbuck then made a break for it when the croc changed its grip. The buck managed to hobble away but had a broken front leg. We stayed for a while to watch the other waterbuck checking out what had gone on.
‘We had to book into Satara, so we left the scene when there was no further action,’ he concluded.
Although the waterbuck escaped the fate of becoming a crocodile’s dinner if its leg is indeed broken it’s sadly likely that it will become a meal for one predator or another eventually.
Image: Pixabay
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