dangerous animals

["Tracey" <tracey@tbt.co.za>]

>As Hen (my son-in-law)  and Shana pointed out we must first remember what
they are. Horses being Equine, cattle being Bovine.  In Henk's home counrty
(and Tracey's) they would be water buffalo and zebras!Now what are they?
They are  prey animals. How do they react to being prey? Equine RUN they
PANIC they don't give up they keep running, even with loins on their backs
even, when all seems lost! Bovine STAND and FIGHT and when they see they are
going to be today's meal they lay down, give up and die! >


Not water buffalo, Tami.  They come from India.  We have Buffalo (really
biiiig bovines), Blue Wildebeest (Blue Gnus) and Black Wildebeest (Black
Gnus).


If you can, get hold of videos by National Geographic called "Eternal
Enemies" and "Pattern in the Grass".  The former is about the enmity between
lions and hyaenas and the latter about Zebras.
Both videos are beautifully shot, and are eye-openers to the daily life of
these animals.


Mark and I spend a lot of time in the bush, observing wildlife and learning
from them.  The "herd" behaviour of wild Zebra is exactly as I've heard wild
Mustangs described.   What is fascinating, to me, is that each Zebra has a
different stripe pattern.  The female Zebra HAS to go off alone to drop her
foal, which imprints on that Zebra's stripe pattern.  If it imprints on
another Zebra, it is lost, as it won't feed from  it's dam, and the other
Zebra won't feed it.   And yes, when a Zebra is run down by a lion or hyaena
pack, it fights tooth and nail.  The predators are sometimes casualties of
the hunt, as well.


Nature can seem cruel at times (remind me to tell you about my Baby
Wildebeest story : how I don't get killed sometimes, I'll never know!), but,
my God, she is one smart lady!


T