See A Hungry Hyena Follow A Lone Warthog Deep In His Burrow

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Have you ever met a person so hungry they are just downright grumpy and no fun to be around? Well, that’s an easy fix for us as humans. But, not so much for animals. Hunger can make animals do crazy things. However, not so crazy as to try and take down an animal twice its size. Don’t miss the action above!

Hyena Hunt Sighting in Africa

The YouTube video posted at the top of this blog post takes us to Africa. The Maasai Sightings YouTube page posted this video a few months ago and it has already received more than 330,000 views across their channel. They also share their latest footage of animals like lions, crocodiles, buffaloes, and elephants. Read the short description they wrote below.

“Common warthogs do not dig their own burrows. They often take over found dens or abandoned aardvark burrows to seek shelter and raise their young. A hyena stalking a warthog entered its burrow to try and kill it and stayed there for over thirty minutes but wasn’t able to.”

Starving Hyena Can’t Wait Its Turn

As the video starts out we see that we are taken to the Maasai Mara in Kenya, Africa. A starving hyena is looking for anything to eat. We immediately see a warthog walking by. And the hyena sizes him up. But, he doesn’t have the protection of his pack with him. 

According to the Visit Africa Organization, “Spotted hyenas hunt and kill in packs. Ninety-five percent of what a hyena eats comes from hunting.” Only this hyena found himself alone. It is possible for hyenas to hunt alone and without their pack. However, in the case of this video shown above, this warthog was just a bit too big for him.

The warthog seems unbothered and we see him slowly enter his burrow underground. The hyena was so hungry that he followed the warthog in. He was hoping to use the element of surprise when it came back up to have nowhere to go. However, this hyena was unsuccessful in staying longer than 30 minutes underground. 

How Big Are Warthogs?

Warthogs are a favorite food of hyenas. However, the successful capture of one is usually when hyenas are hunting them in packs.

The common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) of the genus Phacochoerus can weigh as much as 330 pounds. Whereas hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) of the genus Crocuta weigh up to 190 pounds. 

In addition to the weight, warthogs carry on them, they also have two sets of tusks on their face. The upper tusks can grow to lengths of 11 inches. These make for the perfect defense system against predators such as the hyenas in the video above. And he knew he was no match for this prey on land alone.