High-speed chases are a staple of hunting attempts in the wild, where prey animals often find themselves running for their very lives to try and stay out of reach of the claws and teeth of hungry predators.
This lioness would have preferred to leap straight from her hiding place and onto her prey, but unfortunately her attempt devolved into a good chase which gave the kudu the chance to escape.
Peter Craig-Cooper caught this sighting on camera at the Kruger National Park, on the road just north of Tshokwane, and sent the footage into Latest Sightings.
The Perfect Setup
With Peter and the group on the lookout for some animals, they went to a popular spot for tourists, an area with a good view, and some water pools that attract all kinds of animals looking for a drink.
These locations can be great for dramatic sightings, as predators know that their prey will have to come to water sooner or later, and often stage their ambushes around this. The thirsty animals have no choice but to run the gauntlet.
On this occasion, Peter and the group knew that there were lions in the area, and when they saw large groups of impala coming for a drink, they knew they had a good chance of seeing the hungry lions take an interest in the hunt.
Prey Identified
Despite the high numbers of impala in the area, when the lions did emerge from cover, it wasn’t these that the big cats had identified as their next meal. Instead, this lioness had locked onto a recently arrived kudu.
Peter reported the kudu as moving towards the water in a group before the lion suddenly, burst from the brush where it had concealed itself to charge towards its prey.
Wisely, the group of kudu scattered, forcing the lioness to pick one member and commit to the chase. The big cat had likely determined her target before she broke her cover, but this gave the other kudu a great chance of escaping if the lioness changed course.
Up Up And Away
This precautionary measure turned out to be a good decision, as the lioness’s chase quickly began to go awry. With the kudu athletically dodging around the pools, the lioness struggled to get close enough to bring it down.
Running up a dirt embankment, the kudu was eventually able to escape from the jaws of death, leaping far enough that the lioness decided to cut her losses and give up the chase, letting the kudu escape into the distance.
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Looking A Little Embarrassed
No doubt frustrated by just how close it had come to a meal, the lioness looked sheepishly at the camera before turning away from the lost kudu and looking back out over the plain.
Its sudden arrival had ensured that anything else in the area had bolted, and it had expended a lot of energy in the failed ambush. It would need a bit of time to rest before it could make such an attempt again.
Peter and the group had their sighting, with an incredible escape by the prey, and an unfortunate turn of events for the predator proving that mistakes can happen at any moment.