Nature’s abundance of sausage trees provides for Luangwa’s abundance of hippo and in turn this supports another abundance…
In the Luangwa, a profusion of Nile crocodiles infests the waters, feeding stealthily on fish, thirsty antelope compelled into the murky shallows and even the occasional unsuspecting fisherman – crocodiles are notoriously indiscriminate in their choice of victim. But it is the giants of the river, the hippos that sustain and replenish the hordes through the dry season. With so many hippo conflicting, large mounds of decaying meat are a common sight along the river during the dry months. The heat rots the flesh quickly and it doesn’t take long for the crocodiles to sense the feast. So acute are their smelling senses for navigating through the murky water that no free meal goes unnoticed. Poking top-mounted beady eyes above the surface of the water, the sight of the mound of decaying flesh confirms what the nostrils already detect and draws the crocodiles in their hordes...in their hundreds.
Sometimes boundaries must be crossed to access the meat…the crocodiles must move onto the land. Disarmed of their usual feeding format, the characteristic grip, spin and rip, the crocodiles can only enter the carcass where it is soft. The exceptional heat quickly loosens the flesh however and with some spectacular land-bound spins, the meat comes free - enough to lighten the load sufficiently after a day or two that they can drag the bulk into the water and there feast more comfortably in their own medium. Until then they pile upon one another, crudely slithering over each other like maggots.
In the Luangwa, a profusion of Nile crocodiles infests the waters, feeding stealthily on fish, thirsty antelope compelled into the murky shallows and even the occasional unsuspecting fisherman – crocodiles are notoriously indiscriminate in their choice of victim. But it is the giants of the river, the hippos that sustain and replenish the hordes through the dry season. With so many hippo conflicting, large mounds of decaying meat are a common sight along the river during the dry months. The heat rots the flesh quickly and it doesn’t take long for the crocodiles to sense the feast. So acute are their smelling senses for navigating through the murky water that no free meal goes unnoticed. Poking top-mounted beady eyes above the surface of the water, the sight of the mound of decaying flesh confirms what the nostrils already detect and draws the crocodiles in their hordes...in their hundreds.
Sometimes boundaries must be crossed to access the meat…the crocodiles must move onto the land. Disarmed of their usual feeding format, the characteristic grip, spin and rip, the crocodiles can only enter the carcass where it is soft. The exceptional heat quickly loosens the flesh however and with some spectacular land-bound spins, the meat comes free - enough to lighten the load sufficiently after a day or two that they can drag the bulk into the water and there feast more comfortably in their own medium. Until then they pile upon one another, crudely slithering over each other like maggots.
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