Fearless oryx chase hyena away from watering hole

Wildlife in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is constantly driven by a great thirst. Water in this semi-arid wilderness is scarce and animals rely on a few man-made waterholes scattered across the park. These water holes are very far apart and animals must travel great distances in extremely hot conditions to get a drink of water. There are times when these waterholes get busy with all different kinds of animals congregating at the water. Understandably there are times when conflict arise between species around these waterholes.

During a safari in the park we came across a lone spotted hyena at one of these man-made waterholes. Not too far away was a small herd of Oryx antelope. The predator was standing in the water to cool down while the Oryx antelope did not look very happy with the presence of the hyena in the water. The Oryx antelope looked intimidating, like warriors with painted faces and spears on their heads. The hyena clearly knew the dangers of these spear like horns. One Oryx bull started walking slowly towards they hyena and with a sudden quick burst of speed ran forward to give the hyena a fright and warning at the same time.

The hyena responded to the warning and quickly got out of the water and ran a short distance away from the water. Unexpectedly the hyena turned around and approached the water again as if nothing happened. Another Oryx bull then stepped forward and with an intimidating attitude and kept on walking towards the hyena. Finally the hyena got the message that he was not welcome anymore at the water and decided to rather run off before it got more trouble than it could handle. The small herd of Oryx clearly decided that this specific water hole belonged to them for that period and they were definitely not going to share it with a hyena that they also see as threat in general.