Watch: Martial Eagle’s Warthog lunch caught on film

Baby warthog fights for its life against an eagle.

SKUKUZA – There is an age old saying among game rangers in the Kruger National Park, “Always expect the unexpected in this park”.

This came true for the Mohammed family from the East Rand during a recent trip to the park.

Nazeem, the father, said they were out on a leisurely early morning drive on the S114 and did not really expect to see anything exciting at that time of the day.

“I was taking pictures of impala, a spurfowl and some elephant. Then we came across this warthog family – a mother and three piglets.

The warthog piglet put up a fight but to no avail.

“I was filming them and for no reason I just followed them as they walked through the bush and then crossed the road in front of us.”

His son, Fuaad (19), was the first to see how a martial eagle swooped in from nowhere and grabbed a piglet.

“I immediately realised that I was filming a unique sighting and kept the camera rolling. The piglet was putting up one hell of a fight, but the eagle’s claws were sunk deep into the flesh around the head,” said Nazeem.

“To me it played out as if in a dream. My hands remained steady and time stood still for a second. When the reality dawned on me that we just witnessed something remarkable, excitement and adrenalin flooded my veins. I yelled, ‘We saw a kill!’.”

The two were battling for life and death for about 20 minutes, spinning around on the ground. The eagle used its wide wingspan to balance during the scuffle until the piglet was dead.

The eagle flew into a nearby tree where it rested.

The martial eagle battled with the piglet for about 20 minutes. Photo: Nazeem Mohammed

“We decided not to leave and sat there for about two hours. Many cars stopped to look at the dead piglet and then drove off.”

Eventually the eagle flew down to his catch. He grabbed the dead piglet in his left talon and walked across the road, dragged his meal under a bush and started feasting.