Lions are one of the top predators that tourists can see on safari, and elephants are the largest land animal on the planet. Both of them are incredible animals that don’t come into conflict as much as one might expect.
Adult elephants are just too big and strong for lions and other predators to hunt when there are other prey animals around, but that doesn’t mean that lions won’t have a go under exceptional circumstances.
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Samuel Chevallier, a 28-year-old filmmaker with the African Bush Camps film team, caught these exceptional circumstances on camera while in the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe.
Immediate Escalation
Samuel and his group were staying at the Somalisa Camp, and one morning they went on a drive searching for a lioness and her cubs that they’d spotted the previous evening.
Luckily the lioness and her cubs were still in the area, but Samuel and the rest of his group had no idea what they were about to see. He told Latest Sightings that “after some time, the mother headed into the thicket”.
After the lioness crept into the bush nearby, they all heard the screaming of an animal in distress, and it shocked them to realize it was a young elephant under attack.
Bringing Down A Goliath
It’s always easier for predators to target younger prey, or animals that are already injured. This is even more important for elephants, as the size and strength of fully grown adults makes them extremely difficult prey.
Elephants are also very protective of members of their herd, and they have a tightly knit social structure. Finding a young elephant isolated from the rest of its herd is a rare opportunity, but it’s still no easy target for a lone lioness.
Although she managed to instantly get on its back, and dig her claws deep into the elephant’s sides and face, the lioness just didn’t have the weight or strength to drag the elephant to the ground, and it was starting to fight back.
A Desperate Fight
The lioness needed food for her cubs, and this elephant would make a good source of food for a long time, due to its size. The elephant, though, was young and strong and fighting for its very life.
It shook its head from side to side to try and dislodge the big cat, but the lion’s claws were deep in its tough skin, and she wasn’t going to let go so easily.
As the fight continued, the lioness ended up hanging onto the poor elephant’s face, still desperately attacking and trying to bring it down, while the huge elephant tried to throw its attacker off so that it could flee.
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A Timely Escape
Despite the lioness’s best efforts, the elephant’s strength eventually proved to be superior. The big cat was cast to one side and before she could attack again the elephant had fled through the bush, likely to find and rejoin the rest of its herd.
Samuel described the sighting as a difficult one, as it’s “never easy hearing the sound of a screeching animal fighting to survive”, but “witnessing the hunger of the cubs as they waited” elicited conflicting emotions.
He did also say that his advice “to onlookers in the wild, is to be careful, engage in the moment and note on the behaviour of a lion/lioness before they attack”.