Australian photographer Marc Mol captured a breathtaking scene which had a pack of wild dogs cornered a hyena, leaving him nowhere to escape.
After being chased down to a riverbank in Sabie Sand game reserve in South Africa, the lone hyena was trapped by high ground on back, water in front, and eight more wild dogs bearing in from all other angles.
Surrounded by the snarling canines, the hyena who was fighting for his life seemed to have zero chance to escape unscathed.
Eight wild dogs were terrorising a lone hyena. While normally encounters like this are very fleeting; this one lasted for ages. And then the defiant hyena launched a valiant fight back.
The hyena snarled in the face of his opponents and lashed out at the pack of dogs, thus breaking the dogs’ rank and then events took an unexpected twist.
The hyena, taking advantage of the dogs breaking rank, made a break for the nearby river and sat it out in the water.
Remarkably, the wild dogs were too frightened of the water to follow the hyena in, so they kept their distance and eventually forfeited the fight, sloping off to find something else to hunt for dinner.
Marc Mol said: “The cackling and laughing sounds of the hyena, coupled with the snarls of the dog squadron were amazing to watch.”
