Kicking off

In October last year we were for­tunate to pay our fifth visit to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

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On our first morning drive as we headed north from Twee Rivieren, we were delighted to see a number of Secretarybirds.

After the drive we were on our way back to camp, travelling between Kij Kij and Rooiputs, when we noticed a Secretarybird in the distance, with its wings raised in the bird’s typical be­haviour when it spots potential prey. Having seen no fewer than three Cape cobras during our drive, we were antici­pating watching a life­and­death battle between the bird and a snake.

As we drew nearer, to our surprise we saw that there were in fact three Secretarybirds surrounding an adult black­backed jackal that was lying curled up on the ground at their feet. The birds repeatedly approached the jackal and raised their wings in a threat display. The jackal seemed fairly relaxed and remained in this position without reacting to the birds in any way.

After several minutes of confronta­tional behaviour, two of the Secretary­ birds lost interest and the jackal took the opportunity to stand up and calmly walked away.