I have never been one for playing with the colours, I prefer to leave the shot in its natural state, but I agree the bland grass and the natural camouflage of the animals doesn't help the shot.
As for the cropping, I couldn't agree with you more. Unfortunately that is the original right side of the shot as I was fully zoomed in on the chase and centering on the hunted rather than the hunters, I cropped the left side to place the centre of the shot between them. As the chase got further away they filled less of the shot allowing for a pano style crop as I tried in "The Chase Part 4". Is that what you meant, please let me know what you think?