Last minute trip to Kruger: Afsal to Berg-en-Dal - completing my first BIG 5 day in Kruger ever!

[@monicaalberts8130]

Lovely videos.......I love that part of Park.❤

[@SouthAfricanWanderer]

Thank you 🙏🏼 I’ve spent most of my time Satara and further north but am slowly discovering the south of the park

[@mth469]

Parents at a zoo were hoisting their 3 year old son above the safety barrier so he could get a better look at the wild dogs in the enclosure below....... when the unhinkable happened. He slipped from their hands and fell in ! The pack of wild dogs below literally tore him to pieces in front of horrified onlookers, his parents included ! Question: Would you have jumped into the enclosure to save him, and if so, how?

[@SouthAfricanWanderer]

Hi that's an interesting question. I think it's human nature to dive in but one of the things my safety training as an engineer has taught me is that first make sure the environment is safe before entering or you will end up with 2 dead bodies, which happens quite often in the plant environment. I've actually been at a sundowners point on an afternoon drive and while we were off the vehicle a group of wild dogs on the hunt came around the corner and we were bundled back onto the safari vehicle by the rangers and spotters. They then went on to make a kill not too far from where we were having sundowners. But I think I am not fully qualified to answer this question. A zoo employee or a walking guide (two levels up in training from where I am) would be better qualified to answer what to do in this situation.

[@mth469]

@@SouthAfricanWanderer Dead bodies or not, if it was my family member, I'd jump in without hesitation. No way would i simply stand by and watch helplessly. Thereafter the plan would be sketchy. Even getting the kid out of the jaws of those mutts while also being attacked would be a job in itself. These dogs have an enormous bite force for their size. 400+ pounds per square inch for a wild dog vs 330 for a pit bull ! Assuming I could accomplish that, I'd immediately raise the kid above my head and try kicking the dogs off. I doubt i would last more than 1 min without being savaged myself. I'd scream for the onlookers to get help asap. But most people react too slow and will simply stand there and watch like morons instead of rushing to get help. The ideal situation is if others jumped into the enclosure with me to give strength in numbers. But I doubt anyone would do that. If someone had a lighter, he could set fire to something to ward the animals off. Or throw me a metal rod to protect myself. But I doubt it would be more than 30 seconds before the kid was ripped to pieces, and perhaps 60 seconds for me.

[@SouthAfricanWanderer]

@@mth469 yes the wild dogs work extremely fast in dismembering their victims. There are places that allow you to get off the vehicle and sit with wild dogs as an experience. They are habituated but still wild. I guess in the company of rangers I may actually do it. I have been on foot with cheetahs and so far survived it all!

[@mth469]

If your car 🚗 broke down and you had to survive a month in the park 🏞️ with lions🦁, leopards 🐆, wild dogs 🐶, buffaloes, crocodiles🐊 and other creatures 🐍,..would you be able to do it? Assume you had to leave your car behind, walk on foot 🦶 with no equpment to get help. That would make a great movie.

[@SouthAfricanWanderer]

So I have actually seen an episode of the BBC show "Naked and alone" I think it is called where someone is dropped off at a point and must survive a week in the wild before being extracted again. The African savanna episode was interesting. I definitely think that there must have been intervention because an untrained individual, no matter their survival skills would not have been able to handle a few of the situations the individual found themselves in. He set up camp on the path to a waterhole and was visited by rhinos lions and I think elephants as well. Without intervention I think he would have been killed or seriously injured so yeah I think to answer the question I don't think its possible to last very long alone. Or someone of my calibre may not....

[@mth469]

@@SouthAfricanWanderer Yes I saw that episode, and thought it was unrealistic as well. They must have had guards and snipers all around protecting the area. Maybe I'd paint SOS on the roof of the car if I had any way of doing so. I'd stay in the vehicle and hope that help arrives until my water supply is almost gone. Thereafter, try to get to the nearest roadway (without being eaten!) and flag down any vehicle. Maybe a lucky sporty hat 🎩might keep me safe ? I'd paint 2 large eye spots on it, to confuse predators. Do you carry any protection with you when you are in the bush - e.g. pepper spray, paint ball guns ? Even a sling shot might be effective if you have a few marbles ready to use it at a moment's notice. This stuff might be useful on human predators at times !

[@SouthAfricanWanderer]

@@mth469 No I don't carry any protection in the park. The roads are generally busy enough that someone will come past sooner or later. Also they have permit systems that I think get checked so once you enter the park they know you are in and headed to whatever camp you are meant to stay at. If you don't report to camp they know you are in trouble and will send rangers to get you. I have seen this in action in the Kgalagadi which is even more remote than the Kruger park and people get rescued from the sand dunes from time to time...