Hyenas After the Kill, No. 2

by Belinda Greb

Title

Hyenas After the Kill, No. 2

Artist

Belinda Greb

Medium

Photograph - Photograph, Photography

Description

Hyenas After the Kill, No. 2

This series show hyenas, after a kill. We revisited the Goas waterholes, very early in the morning, hoping to catch sight of a leopard that frequented the area, but instead found three hyenas who had killed a kudu, probably a young one, and were in the midst of eating and trying to drag it away. One of the hyenas was acting as the lookout (probably for a leopard), while what appeared to be a mother and juvenile were with the carcass. What was interesting is that when the third hyena tried to get a bite or came close, the other two immediately were snarling at it and chasing it off, probably due to the hierarchy in their pack. I felt sorry for the lookout hyena that was doing such a good job of diligently surveying 360 degrees of the area. When I reviewed the images on my computer, I was a bit distressed and saddened, as the “carcass“ clearly brought to mind the beautiful young kudu victim so recently deceased. Yet the hunt, the kill, and even the disassembling are part of a natural life. An animal must eat to live, and any cruelty involved in the hunt and kill, is not intentional, whereas while we are removed from the kill, we still consciously participate in a food manufacturing process that is arguably more cruel in that many animals’ lives are completely imprisoned, often from birth. Also we waste so much food, an insult to the sacrificed lives of the animals we eat. Most hyenas (except for striped) kill 95% of what they eat; they are not usually scavengers. They have strong, complex social bonds. In these pictures I see the frenzy of hunger, the fear and anxiety of a predator at risk of losing its meal, the mother’s training of her offspring to survive, the intensity of animals who live a life more harsh and intense than most of us will ever experience. 2/7

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December 9th, 2019

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