Margaret Vogel, an accounting clerk from East London, was visiting KNP over the December holidays. She happened to witness how amazing a mother’s instincts can be, when shared across the animal kingdom.
Latestsightings.com recalls her experience: “On 19th December, we decided to take the Tropic of Capricorn loop, leaving the Mopani camp at 04h30. We saw that the area was dry and that the possibility of finding animals at the waterholes would be good.
“Nearing Nshawu Nr 3, we saw a commotion going on and immediately drove into the waterhole towards the lookout point. A pride of lions were chasing wildebeests and caught a calf just as we neared, so I quickly grabbed my camera and started taking photos!”
“There were two buffaloes close by, and they came storming into the young wildebeest’s rescue. The calf managed to get away only from the lions, only to run in and catch it again. The buffaloes stormed in once more and the calf managed to get away for the last time.”
“The lions caught up with with the poor calf again and finally killed it. The pride consisted of 5 lions, one young male, 3 females, and one cub which all came in to eat.”
“The buffaloes chased them off the kill twice after that, but the lions honed in for their meal. What was odd for me, was to see buffaloes coming to the aid of another species. It was a thrilling experience but still sad. Our 10-year-old daughter started to cry while the chase was on.”
“The mother wildebeest just stood there staring, it seemed as if she was in shock.”
“As soon as the pride started eating, two hyenas and two jackals arrived on the scene for their share but were quickly chased off by one lion.”
