Impala display fitness with leaps known as stotting.
Photo © Bill Given

I was stunned and in complete awe as a number of impala came bounding out from behind shrubs taking tremendous leaps heading right for our vehicle. I knew instantly when all hell breaks loose like this it can only mean African wild dogs are on the hunt.

African wild dogs look for vulnerable individuals when flushing a group of prey.
Photo © Bill Given

As anticipated, wild dogs soon came barreling into view in hot pursuit of the impala. A quiet morning in the famed Savuti had exploded into nature at its finest as both predator and prey displayed how each is shaped by the other. Typically we focus on the predator during a hunt, and African wild dogs are the most endangered mammal in Southern Africa so any viewing is a huge privilege. Meanwhile the impala is usually the most commonly sighted mammal on safari throughout the region, a beautiful animal that is striking the first time it is seen but then often becomes taken for granted because it is common. Yet it was the amazing athleticism of the fleeing impala that completely captivated me, renewing my appreciation for this species. Impala reportedly can leap up to 10 feet in the air and travel over 30 feet in a single jump and huge hang time was on display all around.

Often stotting impala land in incredible high velocity hand stands.
Photo © Bill Given

Interestingly though all these bounds and leaps actually slow the distance covered compared to a continuous gait so why do it? This event triggered an instant recall back to my masters studies at Johns Hopkins, and a research paper I did for an Animal Behavior course on stotting behavior. Stotting is when an animal leaps pulling all four feet off the ground at the same time, often keeping the legs stiff. There have been many theories as to why prey species stot but most research suggests that it is a display of fitness, showing the predators the strength and stamina of an animal, indicating it will be a difficult capture and that a different individual should be targeted.

Stamina and teamwork make painted wolves (wild dogs) the most statistically successful hunters of any predator.
Photo © Bill Given

African wild dogs are coursing predators, meaning that they do not stalk and take by surprise but rather begin pursuit into a group of prey animals and then on the fly decide which individuals to focus on. This gives the predators an opportunity to identify vulnerable animals as targets be they sick, injured, old, young or simply less fit than the others in their group.

Research found that wild dogs did select individuals that stotted at lower rates and that when they did pursue individuals stotting at high rates the hunting success was lower (FitzGibbon & Fanshawe).

It was my last game drive of the safari and I was not reading journals or testing theories, I was there in the midst of stotting impala and the magnificent painted predators and it was perfect!