Everyone knows the food chain is a brutal part of nature. However, sometimes you see something in nature that's disturbing even though you know that's the natural order of things. Such is the case with this unbelievable video taken in Botswana. The lowly impala is near the bottom of the food chain in Africa and young ones are especially vulnerable to the many predators that wander the backcountry. This poor baby impala, likely not more than a few days old quickly finds itself in the coils of a large python.
Unfortunately for the impala, its cries of distress do nothing to help it. In fact, it draws in another vicious predator, a hyena. The hyena doesn't seem to know quite what to make of this situation and keeps looking for an angle to steal the baby from the snake. Eventually, the hyena just starts walking off with the impala, snake still attached. Eventually, the snake relents its meal and flees, leaving the hyena with the spoils of a most brutal victory.
You know, on the list of rotten ways to go, this one must be right near the top. It doesn't get much crueler than having the life squeezed out of you, and then getting ripped apart by some of the strongest jaws in nature. According to the video's description, this whole altercation started when the impala was unfortunate enough to step over the snake. The person who shot this video was Mike Sutherland, the founder of Escape Safari Co. He notes his guests that day were both fascinated and upset by the scene.
"We were all intrigued by what was happening, and we all felt quite distraught and in shock by the scenes that unfolded. It took some explaining and guiding to get the guest to understand fully the fact that nature can be cruel but also has strange ways that we can learn from it," Sutherland said in the video's description. "Not everything we read in books is set in stone, and this was a great example of how one needs to be open-minded in the bush."
It's a good reminder that nature is rarely fair, nor is she caring. Anything and everything can end up as just another link in the food chain. Ending up as prey is a common fate for the impala, very few get to die peacefully of old age. Every day is a fight for survival, and that's what makes nature so special.
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