Death is a near constant threat in the animal kingdom, with hungry predators lurking around any corner, the slightest injury being potentially fatal, and competition for food sources constant.
Despite this, animals like this warthog fight to survive just for the mere sake of doing so. Even when survival is completely impossible, they keep trying because giving up isn’t an option.
Willem Viljoen caught this warthog’s heroic last moments on video. Surrounded by as many as six lions, this warthog had no real chance of escape, but that didn’t stop it from trying.
The Worst Possible Day
This warthog was having a bad day. Even though the lions would guarantee it would not live to see the sunset, it was still putting up an exemplary fight against the big cats that were devouring it.
At the beginning of Willem’s footage the warthog looked like it had already given up the ghost. With so many lions clustered around it there couldn’t be any chance that it was still alive and kicking.
But, eventually, the single leg of the warthog that emerged from inside the press of lions began kicking, trying in vain to force open some space for it to maneuver.
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A Forlorn Hope
The warthog might have managed to summon strength to fight back from some kind of internal reserve, but it was always going to be too little too late. The warthog was already dead, it just didn’t realize it yet.
Innards could be seen spilling out from its stomach as the lion tore it open with their bloody jaws, so even if the warthog escaped by some miracle it would not survive long.
Maybe the warthog knew this, maybe the shock of it all had settled in and the beast couldn’t feel its injuries, but either way it was still absolutely determined that it would not go quietly, and that it would make the big cats work for their meal.
One Last Effort
Somehow, and it’s not clear how because of the throng of lions surrounding the warthog, the stricken animal managed to get its legs under it and launch itself a few meters.
The press of lions moved with it, suddenly acting slightly panicked that their meal might actually beat all of the odds and escape from them. Some of the warthog’s momentum for this last effort probably came from the lions jostling it and each other as they fed.
This last burst of life from the hog pushed it to the other side of a nearby tree, but its sudden movement hadn’t even managed to make any kind of distance from the lion’s teeth, and they were consuming it again in less than a second.
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The Inevitable Doom
The shelter of the tree shielded the warthog’s last moments from a curious vulture that was politely waiting its turn with the carcass, but Willem’s camera had already caught some gruesome scenes.
The last struggle of the hog was courageous but with its body torn open and six lions already feasting on it, there had never been any real chance of escape or survival. The warthog became just part of the food chain as the lions tucked in.
