Early morning, 5:15 a.m. In the pale morning light, our guests sip a black coffee at the entrance table. On the sickle bush, some Go-away birds are waiting for Michael, the night guard, as he brings some breadcrumbs for them, like every morning. A new day at Rhulani. Riaan calls his guests as he wants to show them the Wild Dogs today. Yesterday he was not lucky, but they must be around here somewhere. He starts the engine.

Riaan doesn’t get very far. A nervous voice is heard over the radio. “Come back immediately. They are right here at the waterhole.”

"At first I try to go back and approach somehow from the side”, says Riaan, “but I am told to rather return to the entrance. The dogs are in the middle of the camp.”

The pack has driven a lonely Blue Wildebeest into the winding corridors of the camp. The adult animals take the lead, the little ones stay a short distance away at the watering hole.

The morning coffee comes to an unusual end. Carla, our lodge manager, instructs the guests to go to the dining room. Quickly! What looks like a sweet house dog is actually one of the most dangerous killing machines of the African bush, especially when they act as a pack.

The wildebeest stands in the corridor. It almost seems paralyzed. It tries to keep the attackers at a distance with its horns. The dogs come from all sides

Carla says: "Fortunately the door to our Curio Shop was closed. Otherwise there might have been a big disaster there.”

From time to time the dogs manage to grab their victim and drag it down the aisle. We follow the brutal spectacle through the windows of the dining room. We hear the screeching howling of the dogs. 

Mr. Rajesh Pais, returning guest at Rhulani Safari Lodge, provides us with spectacular video sequences. He's never seen anything like this. Like all other guests.

At some point the wildebeest breaks free and escapes over the pool deck. Riaan says: “Fortunately, no animal falls into the swimming pool."

Has the poor wildebeest been lucky? We are not optimistic. The defense has cost tremendous strength and the dogs are hungry. 

A bit later, we find the pack, not far from Rhulani, eating on a Wildebeest kill.