A newborn honey badger pup found itself stranded and all alone when it was found by three big male lions in the middle of the road.
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Leon Badenhorst, a 37-year-old accountant who’s also a big-time wildlife photography enthusiast, witnessed this very unique sighting. Leon had this unbelievable experience while driving on the H9 tar road near Phalaborwa Gate in Kruger National Park. He caught the whole thing on camera and shared his footage and story with LatestSightings.com.
Leon left Letaba Camp early in the morning. He wanted to spot some nocturnal birds like Nightjars. As he was driving, something really exciting happened. He saw not one, not two, but three male lions just lying in the middle of the road. Leon was the first car there.
“I stopped my car, hoping the lions wouldn’t mind me being there. They were relaxed with me and did not move off. So, I slowly inched closer, to get a better angle for photos and videos.”
“After spending a few moments with them, one of the lions got up and started sniffing at something on the road. I thought it was just some buffalo dung at first. But when I zoomed in with my camera, I realized it was a tiny, tiny baby animal! At first, I couldn’t tell what it was. It could have been a dwarf mongoose or even a hyena cub because of its color.”
“The sight of this tiny creature, alive and all alone with these lions, made me feel sad and curious all at the same time. I could hear tiny squeals, but my camera couldn’t pick up the sound. The lion seemed curious and was strangely gentle with the little one. Using its paws, it tapped and “played” with the baby animal.”
“After the lion was done with its investigation, it realized this was something it could eat! At that exact moment, I realized what I was looking at, it was a tiny honey badger! the lion then picked it up with its teeth and walked off into the grass. When the lion came back, the baby was no longer with it, and I didn’t hear the squeals again.”
After sitting with these lions for quite some time, Leon noticed there was this weird, bad smell around. He thought maybe the lions had taken down their mom, which is extremely sad because honey badger moms are known to fight fiercely to protect their babies. Leon didn’t see any signs of a struggle, like blood or injuries on the lions, which just added to the mystery.
Honey badger sightings in Kruger aren’t extremely rare, but because they are mostly active at night, you don’t see them often during the day. And seeing a tiny pup? That’s even rarer because their moms keep them really well hidden. So, having lions around and no mom in sight made this sighting unusual and special.