Vernon Cresswell caught this sighting in Buffelshoek in the Sabi Sands area of the Greater Kruger National Park. The crocodile appeared to have come onto land to try and steal a kill.
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Finding itself facing a well-fed pride of lions, the crocodile quickly reevaluated its plan, but if it was going to escape it was going to need to fight.
The pride had “taken down a male waterbuck just a few hours before” Vernon and his group found them, as he told Latest Sightings, and they’d “left the carcass about 100m from the dam”.
A Hopeful Thief
Like most other predators, crocodiles will scavenge from others if the opportunity presents itself. There’s no need to waste energy hunting when a meal is already nearby, and can be stolen if the predator that caught it isn’t brave enough to defend it.
Vernon believed that the “crocodile obviously sensed that there was a carcass nearby, so he left the water to investigate and maybe get an easy meal”.
Unfortunately, if this is the reason the crocodile came poking around, it had made a grave miscalculation as the lions weren’t about to let it make off with their meal.
Curiosity Killed The Cat
It hadn’t gotten far from the water before the big cats took an interest in it. Vernon noted that the cubs went to investigate first, and then after “a little while, some of the adult females (5 in total)” went to see what the fuss was about.
Rather than instantly attacking, the lions seem a bit confused at first, as if unable to believe that this crocodile has so casually wandered into their midst. They toyed with the reptile at first, maybe trying to scare it away before the situation escalated.
The crocodile didn’t seem likely to back down though, and it held its ground as the five adult lionesses probed its defenses, reaching out as if to touch it.
Clash Of Apex Predators
Inevitably, the situation escalated rapidly. If the croc had made its way onto the land in the hope of a quick meal it was going to be disappointed, and the lions were getting too close for comfort.
Lions and crocodiles both enjoy their place at the top of their respective food chains, and the crocodile began using its huge jaws to try and make the lions back off.
The odds weren’t on the crocodile’s side, five lions against one, but if it was going to escape it needed to make some room so it could flee back to the water.
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A Quick Exit
As soon as the crocodile attacked the lions they stopped toying with it and went on a full offensive. Surrounded, the crocodile showed its own power, answering every attack with a snap of its massive jaws.
The crocodile was fast, but as Vernon said, the lions “were faster than the speed of the crocodile, and they soon got the upper hand”. They did leave a gap in their attack though, and the crocodile surged through it, sensing the freedom and safety of the water.
Vernon said he’d “been going into the bush regularly for 30 years, and not once” had he ever “seen something like this”. Proof that nature will always be surprising, and motivation not to give up if sightings are few and far apart, the best one might be just around the corner.