Great warthog escape

Jan 16, 2025

“Just another day here at Gwango Elephant Lodge”, is probably what our housekeeping team thought as they diligently spruced up the Lion’s Lair Tree Top Villa - where there’s a front-row seat to the wildlife spectacle that always seems to unfold at the Water Pan. This villa isn’t just named “Lion’s Lair” for flair - it’s a spot where lions once roamed freely, leaving their paw-prints on the sands and in our memories.

As the housekeepers worked away, the water pan as usual buzzed with wildlife. Giraffes gracefully stretching their long necks for a sip, elephants flapping their ears and baboons engaged in their usual antics. Three warthog brothers were amongst this bustling scene, blissfully unaware that their peaceful afternoon was about to be rudely interrupted.

The tranquility quickly shattered when the baboons, ever the sentinels of the bush, sounded the alarm. These weren’t the playful cries of mischief or the quarrelsome screeches of a baboon brawl - this was a full-on emergency broadcast. The waterhole emptied faster than a market after a sudden rainstorm, animals scattering to safer grounds. All except our warthog trio, who for some reason, seemed to have missed the memo. Either that, or they were too engrossed in their own world debating who had the best mud patch and blissfully naive to the lurking danger.

Enter the lioness, her golden coat blending seamlessly with the tall grass. For what seemed like an eternity but was really just 25 minutes, she crept closer, each step calculated, her eyes locked on the oblivious warthogs. Then, with a burst of energy, she leapt from her cover! The water pan erupted in a frenzy of hooves and dust. The warthogs scattered, each choosing a different escape route. The lioness, focused and determined, chased after one, its little tail sticking straight up like a flag of surrender… or defiance, in this case. They vanished into the forest, leaving us with nothing but the echoes of their pursuit and a lingering question: did the warthog escape, or did the lioness secure her dinner???

We don’t know if that chase ended in victory or escape, but one thing is certain: the circle of life continues on the Kalahari sands of Hwange. Here every encounter is a chapter in the ongoing story of the wild, a tale where each character, from the mighty lioness to the humble warthog, plays their part in this timeless drama.