For centuries, a seesaw battle has played out between two iconic species. The rivalry between lions and buffalo could go either way on any given day.
Shayne Hodges sent this short but tense footage to Latest Sightings. He filmed it while on a game drive in South Africa.
Frayed nerves
Shayne’s sighting took place at a dried-out waterhole. With both water and food scarce, nerves were already frayed.
There he found a pride of lions and a herd of Cape buffalo in the midst of a confrontation. Although buffalo feature highly in the diet of lions, catching one is never a foregone conclusion.
Many mouths to feed
As the lions pad across the uneven terrain in front of the buffalo, they are met with belligerent menace.
Lions live in prides with many mouths to feed. As such, they’ve evolved cooperative hunting techniques to bring down large prey. They are, without doubt, Africa’s apex predator.
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Outweighed & outnumbered
Buffalo are also highly social, and their chief defences against predators are brute strength and safety in numbers.
Combined, these factors embolden the buffalo to advance on the three lions. Since individuals are up to six times the weight of a lioness, any lion that is caught risks being trampled to death.
Tactical retreat part of overall strategy
Accordingly, the predators retreat, not willing to risk injury or worse. As experienced hunters, they know that it is better to bide their time than act recklessly.
For the predators to succeed, their every move needs to be carefully calculated and coordinated. While the risks are great, so too are the rewards.
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Manning the defences
A buffalo herd’s outer defences depend primarily on the males, while the smaller cows defend the young within their huddled mass of muscle.
As the tension mounts, the bulls, young and old, prove their worth by breaking from the herd to chase the lions. While it works to a degree, these bulls also risk isolating themselves in the process.
Accordingly, they don’t go too far. And, when they stop chasing, the lions stop too.
We’ll be back
Each time the chase ends, the lions turn to re-evaluate the integrity of the herd. They are masters at spotting and exploiting any weakness.
Perhaps, too, with the lengthening shadows, they know that the tables will soon turn in their favour. Lions are much more successful when hunting at night.
Accordingly, as Shayne’s video draws to a close, we see the lions moving further away from the herd. Better to rest up now and try again when conditions are more favourable.
Whatever the outcome may have been, you can rest assured that the rivalry will continue to play out well into the future. Equally, you can rest assured that there will never be an outright winner.