This heroic, yet ultimately futile, stand by a buffalo mother protecting her calf from an outnumbering pride of lions was filmed by Dennis Koshal in the Masai Mara National Reserve
Buying enough time, the herd arrived, driving out the hungry lions with a thunderous charge. But the skirmish ended with a bad sight.
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Calf In Peril
A calf grazing in the pasture was singled out by a group of sub-adult lions
“Dramatic morning, all Rongai sub-adults putting down a buffalo calf, it was difficult for the mum to give up, all members of the herd defending the calf”, Dennis Koshal said.
One of the lions lunged straight for the calf’s neck, but within seconds, the mother was already charging in, almost skewering the lion.
She turned her attention to another lion, leaving her calf in the open. The calf tried to keep up, but was wrangled again as it kept up with its mother desperately.
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Lions’ Coordinated Attacks
Close by her calf, the mother stayed in the center line. Not pursuing the lion to give the other one openings.
What began as two lions quickly turned into more. One after another emerged until five lions had fully coordinated the assault. Five lions have already coordinated on the attack, the other four lions kept the mother distracted while one slipped through to target the calf.
Lions are ambush predators; the usual play on their hunt is that one or two lions try to chase a herd of prey while another group tries to lie and wait.
This strategy is effective when they are singling out the weak, young, or old from the group.
But for prey that are larger, stronger, and have a cohesive action, they do things differently. They usually target the young. A larger group distracts the mother or defending herd, while an experienced hunter snatches the prey quickly, making it unnoticeable for the ones in defense.
Reinforcement Coming
The latter strategy almost worked. They baited out the mother, letting it charge too deep, leaving the calf in the open. A lioness quickly tackled the calf.
Luckily, the mother backtracked fast and saved her calf.
Suddenly, the lions hesitated, their hunger replaced with doubt. A herd of massive buffalo charged and broke into the lion’s ranks.
The herd pushed deep, trying to form a wall between the calf and the lions.
Establishing Boundaries
The charging buffalo pursued the lions when they got too close, giving the calf space to recover.
But for a small calf, recovering from such constant battering is difficult. The herd won’t stay long, as lingering too close could put them at risk if the lions switch targets to a much larger prey.
Still, the calf does its best to stand, struggling to keep up as the herd begins to move on.
Changing Tides
Though the clip cuts off, the next segment reveals that the lions eventually pinned down the calf; it must’ve failed to keep up, and the lions were able to penetrate the herd.
Surrounding the calf, the rest of the herd encircled the calf, trying to chase off the lions one last time, giving it more time to stand, but unfortunately, the lions served their fill this time.
This sighting is a testament that even as prey animals, buffalo never go down without a fight, especially when they fight as one