Watch The Sighting:
Dean Grant was on safari with his family in Kruger National Park in the fall of 2016 when this tense encounter occurred. The family entered the park early in the morning from Mjejane and decided to start their drive by going west along the river.
Dean and his family were hoping to spot some big cats that day, but the encounter they experienced was more intense than anything they had expected.
Spying The Pride
As Dean drove down the dirt road, he couldn’t believe his eyes: a pride of lions, around 12 members large, appeared right in front of the vehicle! The pride was composed of about 8 lionesses and a few subadults, and they were all working together to coordinate an attack against a massive hippo!
The lions were taking turns jumping on the hippo to tire it out over a prolonged period. This is a strategy often used by lions to take down larger prey.
With its incredibly tough skin and massive body size, Dean and his family knew it would take a while for the lions to claim their meal. Dean explained that everyone had mixed feelings about the sighting, including excitement to see the lions in action, respect for the pride’s determination, and sorrow for the hippo’s suffering.
The Hippo Fights Back
Nobody could believe their eyes as the lions managed to chase the hippo right onto the road, where all the vehicles had a front-row view of the action. Two vehicles were particularly close to the animals, and while one car slowly drove away to give the animals space, the second car, a Land Rover, decided to stay put.
The driver of the Land Rover must have surely regretted his decision to remain parked because all of a sudden, the hippo attacked! It was seemingly taking out its frustration towards the lions on the bumper of the vehicle.
Dean and his family laughed at the absurd turn of events while the hippo had its massive jaws around the front of the Land Rover! Finally, the driver had the good sense to reverse away from the hippo, and the lions were able to continue with their attack.
An Inevitable End
The hippo eventually wandered into a ditch off the road and out of sight. Some lions continued to attack, while others lay in the shade to recover.
The lions seemed to understand that they had the advantage in this hunt and were in no clear rush to finish off the poor hippo.
The family watched both the exhausted predator and prey for a while longer but finally decided to drive off and explore more of the park. When they returned later in the afternoon, the lion pride appeared to be resting with full bellies from their highly deserved meal.
Nature’s Raw Power
Get our Best Sightings as they Come in
Dean and his family felt very privileged to have witnessed such an incredible sighting. They understood how rare it was to see lions take down a hippo, and get a glimpse into the power, strategy, and survival instinct of a lion pride.
“Having visited game parks on many family holidays growing up, we had never seen anything like this. We told many rangers about our experience, none of whom had ever heard of such a thing, and said if they had been asked ‘would a lion ever attack a hippo?’, they would have said no.”
This rare encounter between a lion pride and a hippo is a powerful reminder that in the wild, strength alone doesn’t guarantee survival. Even nature’s toughest animals are vulnerable when hunger drives predators to take bold risks in the name of a meal.