Veld Facts

S urvival in the wild is hard work. Animals expend huge amounts of energy to procure food and to avoid becoming food. The average herbivore must eat for most of the day to get sufficient energy to sustain itself. The plants it eats often have low nutritional value. An elephant, for example, needs to eat about 350 kg worth of grass, leaves, bark and twigs – per day! Predators are active for shorter periods of time, but the hunting process also takes a lot of energy. Studies show the reason cheetahs and lions lie around for up to 20 hours a day is to save up energy for this purpose. They can only sustain a high-speed chase for a few minutes. This also explains why many big predators – and raptors – don’t bother with small prey. If you’re an eagle, catching a weaver requires the same amount of energy as catching a guineafowl, but the guineafowl is a main meal while a weaver is just an appetiser. Prey species, on the other hand, need to employ a host of tactics to avoid being detected, or to outrun whichever predator is coming for them. The hard shell of a tortoise is one such method of protection. It’s essentially a modified ribcage covered by a bony plate, which is camouflaged and nearly impenetrable. The shell also protects the tortoise from the elements, like the hot sun. But is this armour always effective? Recently, I witnessed a young spotted hyena attempting to eat a juvenile leopard tortoise in the Northern Tuli Game Reserve in Botswana. At first it looked like the fate of the tortoise was sealed, but then the tables turned. The hyena tried its best to gnaw through and its teeth did obvious damage to the shell, but the core of the shell remained unbroken and the tortoise’s body was protected. After all that effort without the reward of a meal, I doubt this particular hyena will try and eat a tortoise again…