After being chased off from their territory, two brother lions returned with vengeance to get their home back, brutally taking their enemy’s life in the process!
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Tyron Horne, the assistant head ranger at AndBeyond Ngala Private Game Reserve, had front-row seats to this raw moment of nature with his guests. Tyron shared the intense and heartbreaking footage with LatestSightings.com.
“I had been out on a drive with my guest all morning when a call came in on the radio that the two Mbiri males that once ruled this area were back. This was exciting because they had been pushed out by two of the Avoca males. Their return meant they were ready to reclaim what was originally theirs.”
The Mbiri males had come into the area because of a buffalo that had died, so for them it was a free meal. When they arrived, they ate their fill and began exploring what was once theirs. That’s when they crossed paths with the Avoca males that were now in charge. Being bigger and in their prime, the two brothers went into attack mode and chased the two resident males!
“When I arrived on the scene, there were only 3 male lions; one of the Avoca males had already been chased off by the attackers. What greeted us was truly shocking and left not only me but all of my guests silent for a few minutes. It was gruesome, to say the least; the two attacking males were covered in blood, which gave them a fierce look. The other male was on his back with blood covering his entire back and legs.”
“They were biting at the soft underbelly; they had this look in their eyes that you could see from months of anger being built up. Because they had been pushed out for so long, when they finally were able to take revenge, they were not holding back. The bigger of the brothers managed to bite down between the intruder’s back legs and ripped so hard that his intestines came flying out!”
“Despite being covered in blood and his insides hanging out of him, the Avoca male was still alive! Raising his head and trying to put up a fight, he snapped his jaws. However, it was not of any help; he was too far gone. He fell back down, and the Mbiri brothers went back at it, growling and biting until they were certain that he would not move again.”
Male lions in the wild live for territory and mating rights. This means fights like this to the death are part of their lives and something that all males are prepared for, some more than others. We may find it extremely harsh and hard to witness, but moments like these give us insight into the hard lives that these animals live just to survive.
“Once he stopped moving, the Mbiri brothers did the unthinkable; they began eating his dead body. This is not something that lions would commonly do, but they were clearly in a rage, and there was no stopping them. They dragged his lifeless body around and, for the next two days, stuck with it while continuously eating from it. It was as if they were sending a message to any other males that were thinking of coming into their territory.”
