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It was early morning at Cubitje Quap waterhole in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa. It was the dry season, and the doves and sandgrouses came down in their hundreds to drink water. There was a black crow parading around the waters’ edge, which grabbed a dove by its tail feathers and started to pluck the feathers. A watching lanner falcon swooped down, stole the dove from the crow and continued the plucking of feathers. Then a lurking blacked-backed jackal grabbed the dove from the falcon, and in the process caught hold of the falcon’s talons. What followed is what I refer to as ‘the waltz of death’. The falcon was swung around like a ragdoll. Eventually, the falcon freed itself from this death grip and flew to a nearby tree, seemingly unharmed, while the jackal devoured the dove.