Banzai’s Night Out

Image credit: Enrique Ramos Lopez

Banzai stepped out of her pack’s cave in the hill to survey the sprawling savannah grassland below her. She watched on as her pack members napped in the early evening. The  faint brown hue of their fur was best at sunset.  They had dark spots all around their bodies too.  

The night before, Banzai had left the pack in confidence that she would be able to hunt alone. She trusted that her eye-sight was sharp and her hearing was great. But her efforts to attack a nearby village had been futile, a disaster to say the least. “Hiyo fisi imerudi tena!” That yell raised the alarm around the village as Banzai was about to attack. What followed was a full pelting of rocks as Banzai scampered away to the safety of her pack. If she had been in the comfort of her pack, being led by her mother, the result of that hunt would have been different.  

Now, pangs of hunger hit Banzai so hard. She thought she was going to keel over. She was going to have to be patient as the pack was gathering to go for the night hunt led by Banzai’s mother. She was confident this would be a success. Usually when a hyena was alone hunting or stumbled upon a kill, they would be easily scared off by other carnivorous predators in the wild but when in a large pack, hyenas can hold their own and fight off any opposition that comes their way and secure food.  

At long last, darkness fell and Banzai’s mother appeared at the cave’s opening and was quickly followed by other female hyenas. The male clan members were at the back of the pack since they were smaller in size and could not handle the chase as well as the female hyenas. The hind legs being shorter make it possible for them to run for long distances over a long period of time. The pack walked for what seemed like an eternity before finally, their heightened sense of smell picked up the faint smell of slaughtered meat. This told them they were close to the village.  

The pack set off after the village while laughing hysterically out of pure excitement. They knew the meat was there in plenty and they were not wrong. They found the goats and cows in pens around the village. A proper feast was upon them. The villagers offered little resistance as they rightly knew they were outnumbered. Banzai knew this was her chance to eat heavily. She could eat to up to 15 kilograms if left to eat undisturbed. This would not be the case though as she still had to squabble with other hyenas for the food but she did get a fair chunk for herself. The feast went on for a while and the indicator that time was up was when one of the hyenas from the pack dropped to the ground in a heap, a spear sticking out from its side. The humans had retaliated and it was time for the hyenas to go. Leaving the place laughing as hysterically as they did when they came in, the hyenas retreated to their watering hole and caves. Banzai’s night out. A success, she concluded. 

Image credit: National Geographic