South African wildlife photographer Dirk Theron was stunned when he came across two huge dead elephant carcasses in one day being devoured by lions and crocodiles.
The experienced photographer, 45, said he didn’t believe the elephants were killed by the predators, but by river-borne bacteria.
Theron said: ‘It is a little unclear as to why these elephants died, but it is said that during this time of the year, just before the rainy season starts, the river is at the lowest and this, sometimes, causes a kind of bacteria to be exposed which can cause harm to some animals’
Theron found this elephant carcass being devoured by a lioness during during a morning game drive in the Botswana park. He said he witnessed a similar scene last year when he saw some hippopotamus carcasses being devoured by predators in the Mahango National Park in Namibia
Bloodied but unbowed: A lioness rests after devouring part of an elephant carcass. Theron said: ‘It is highly unlikely that the lions hunted this animal because it was an adult elephant, and lions tend to stay clear from adult elephants’
Mine, I think: Later the same day, Theron snapped a separate elephant carcass being attacked and devoured by at least 12 crocodiles by the Chobe River. He said: ‘It was a spectacle of crocs thrashing and splashing, ripping and tearing at this once magnificent animal’
To the winner, the spoils: One of the crocodiles has managed to fend of the others and grab some of the dead elephant’s innards . A shocked Theron said: ‘Elephants are one of my favourite animals, so it was a sickening site to behold. Crocodiles wait for the flesh to start rotting, before they start feeding, so one can imagine the smell was a little ripe’.
Croc and Roll: Theron snapped this photo showing ‘a massive croc going into the dreaded ‘death roll’, only in this case it was just to secure a giant chunk of meat for itself’