Observers have frequently documented the longstanding rivalry between lions and spotted hyenas. In this chapter of the feud, a lioness refuses to let the odd intimidate her, even as they stack up against her.
Alison Drake shared this footage with Latest Sightings. She filmed it while visiting Simbavati River Lodge in South Africa’s Greater Kruger National Park.
Mounting pressure
We join Allison at the sighting as the tension rises. While a lioness hunches over her kill, a clan of hyenas gathers nearby.
While hyenas are competent hunters, they seldom pass up the opportunity to steal from other predators. All the better if it is their sworn enemy: lions.
Rallying call
Both species are social creatures, forming strong bonds within their ranks. For the hyenas, this is their superpower, particularly when facing a more powerful opponent.
Researchers say that a single lioness can usually contend with four hyenas. The hyenas know this instinctively, and they lower their heads to make their distinctive whooping rally cry, hoping to swell their numbers.
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Feeling the heat
Subsequently, as their calls reverberate from the ground, more hyenas join the cause. As their numbers swell, they become emboldened and edge towards the lioness.
Consequently, the lioness begins to feel the heat. In between bites, she flattens her ears and snarls menacingly at the approaching mob.
Overstepping the boundary
Inevitably, one of the hyenas encroaches on the lion’s comfort zone; the imaginary circumference around an animal within which it feels safe.
Consequently, she launches herself at the clan, determined to teach them a lesson. Unsurprisingly, the hyenas scatter in all directions.
Being alone, she can only go after one. With her target locked in, she chases it into the distance.
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When opportunity knocks
However, no sooner does she abandon her kill than the opportunistic instincts of the remaining hyenas kick in.
Immediately, a couple of hyenas dash in, ready to claim the carcass.
As they do, others notice and rush in to join the frenzied feeding. With powerful jaws, they can make short work of what’s left of the antelope.
Return of the queen
However, having failed to catch the hyena, the lioness turns back to her meal. Enraged at seeing it covered in hyenas, she sprints back to claim what is hers.
Somehow amid the chaos, the hyenas see her coming. With one last quick mouthful, it is their turn to run. Should the lioness catch any of them, it is bound to die.
However, her attention is solely focused on the carcass. No sooner does she retrieve it than the hyenas regroup and resume their mobbing behaviour.
As they advance once again and their whooping grows in intensity, the lioness looks worried. She was lucky to chase the horde of scavengers this time; next time she might not be.
