Kasongo | The Nigerian Forest And The Men Who Hunt It

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:28]Somewhere in forest of West Africa.

[00:00:32]It moves.

[00:00:35]You will not hear it coming. You will not see it until it's ready to be seen.

[00:00:51]And by the time most people realize it was there, it's already gone.

[00:00:57]In the forest of U state, Nigeria, hunters know it by one name, Kasungu.

[00:01:16]>> What's your name, sir?

[00:01:31]Sherman of Sherman.

[00:01:37]Another Meet the Red River hog. One of the most dangerous, most intelligent, and most underestimated animals on the African continent. At first glance, you might think it's just a pig. How threatening can a pig be?

[00:02:07]>> Okay. Nice one. Nice one.

[00:02:11]They carried it >> that deep copper red coat, those piercing eyes, those tusk cving upwards from the lower jaw like two curved blades.

[00:02:25]A fully grown male can weigh 130 kg of pure muscle built entirely for survival. That is massive.

[00:02:40]and he's carrying it. He keeps going.

[00:02:48]>> So after resting for a while, I'm getting back at it. Come along, guys.

[00:03:02]>> Let's go. Let's go. Let's go, guys.

[00:03:08]>> Let's go.

[00:03:10]Victory.

[00:03:30]Woo!

[00:03:54]Ask any hunter who has tracked one through thick Nigerian forest. They will show you their scars and answer that question without saying a single word.

[00:04:05]>> Man, check that out. He was attacked by one of the kungu. He's a dog hunter and he got attacked in the bush. He to his hand.

[00:04:14]>> He to his hand, man. That's one of the things. That's one of the things we face.

[00:04:20]>> His sense of smell is 2,000 times more powerful than yours. It can detect your presence from half a kilometer away.

[00:04:37]Its hearing can pick up the snap of a dry twig, the rustle of your clothing, the click of a safety catch on a rifle, or from a distance that will genuinely shock you.

[00:05:14]And when something feels wrong, it does not wait to find out what. It moves instantly, taking the entire group with it, >> bro. Guys, check it out, man.

[00:05:30]>> This is what waits in the forest.

[00:05:35]Respect it or go home empty-handed.

[00:06:01]The men who haunt the Kasungu are not obese with weapons. They are the inheritors of a tradition older than any written record in this region.

[00:06:21]a lot of dogs and uncles.

[00:06:26]Let's go.

[00:06:28]Oh, >> the name is This is what they use to hunt wild dogs.

[00:06:41]>> Check it out.

[00:06:46]Likewise, we are in between state and right now.

[00:06:55]>> This is what we call >> in Euroba culture. The hunter, the other is a guardian standing at the boundary between the human world and the wild.

[00:07:16]They are running >> in Euroba. Believe the forest is not empty. It is inhabited and the hunter is the one who negotiate that space on behalf of his community.

[00:07:55]Before any major hunt, prayers are offered, rituals observed. Because in this tradition, taking a life, even an animal's life, is a sacred transaction not taken lightly. Not ever.

[00:08:22]I need preparations begins days before intelligent gathered, fresh tracks noted, scent reduced, weapons cleaned until the hunter knows every sound, every field, every limitation of what he carries and timing is everything. Sometimes we go that way, some we go this way. So I'm following this part and rejoicing on that part.

[00:09:31]>> Yeah, we have black kasongo. We had two different types of kasongo.

[00:09:35]>> So this is brown kasu.

[00:09:37]>> Brown kasongo.

[00:09:39]You got >> this is brown kaso. We have the black.

[00:09:44]We have the brown.

[00:09:48]being Euroban.

[00:09:50]Thank God. So this is thank God for today.

[00:10:00]>> Today was successful.

[00:10:01]>> Was successful.

[00:10:04]Here is what no highlight will ever show you. This brutal walk. 15 to 20 kilome through dense forest.

[00:10:22]Heat that soaks through your clothing before you have barely moved. Has of absolute stillness in uncomfortable position.

[00:10:32]Ignoring every physical discomfort because any movement could cost you everything.

[00:10:51]And then the anticipation, the quiet terrifying knowledge that everything can change in a single second. One moment silence, empty forest, and the next a kasungu right there close enough to hear it breathing.

[00:11:19]So we got some wonder plantation.

[00:11:24]We are waiting for the rest and they are not seless.

[00:11:41]Most hunts ends in disappointment. The wind shifts at the wrong moment. The short window opens for 2 seconds and closes before the hunter is ready. Or worst of all, the animal is wounded and disappears into the forest. Despite hours of tracking and everything the hunter has left to give, sometimes, no matter how skilled, how prepared, how experienced, the kasungu simply wins.

[00:12:33]But then on the rare days when everything aligns, when the wind holds, when the tracking is true, when the forest decides to give something back, More training.

[00:13:19]When a hunter walks out of that forest with his harvest, he walks out as proof that this tradition is still alive, that the knowledge still exists, that the connection between his community and his forest still holds.

[00:13:55]I said the second one the guy shot.

[00:14:13]God bless you.

[00:14:29]If you have enjoyed this video, don't forget to like, share, subscribe, and drop a comment. Thanks for always watching. These are the adventures of Jazzy.

[00:14:51]>> Check that out. We are the great.

[00:15:07]That's the end of the hunt for today. We are back at uh the starting point where we parked the car. So from here we'll be going to the camp where we've been staying overnight.

[00:15:17]So stay with us guys. We are still going to be here for 3 days and it promises to be a crazy wild hunt. Stay tuned guys.

[00:15:26]Stay tuned. Don't change the channel.

[00:15:28]Let's go.

[00:15:37]>> Check that out.

[00:15:39]Check that out, guys.

[00:15:46]Check that out.

[00:15:52]So, at the end of the day, we got nine wild dogs, two bush box, and one drinker. It was a wonderful day out here. It was a nice hunt. It was an interesting hunt. Now, let's go back to the camp now. Let's go back to the race.