Guide Benji Solms submitted this dramatic footage to Latest Sightings. He filmed it in South Africa’s Greater Kruger National Park.
Lion on patrol
As Benji’s footage begins, we see a male lion emerging from the roadside vegetation. At this point, we have no clue about the drama about to unfold.
However, as the lion approaches Benji’s position, it pauses next to a bush and sniffs the leaves. Without context, this doesn’t seem all that unusual.
Lions regularly mark their territories, a warning to intruders to stay out. The scent of their urine carries information indecipherable to humans, including the donor’s status and how recently they passed.
“Now the trouble’s going to start!”
Subsequently, two more large males emerge behind the first, with the trio forming a formidable alliance.
It is only when Benji says, “Now the trouble’s going to start!” that we realise that these are not residents. They are intruders invading the territory of another pride.
Resident male located
In the next scene, we see two of the intruders alongside a lioness. Then, from the embankment above, a third male arrives, proclaiming his arrival with a series of roars.
As it turns out, this is the resident male, come to find out what’s happening on his turf.
As he sees the intruding males, he stops in his tracks. Then, after a brief face-off, one of the intruding males charges towards the resident, forcing him to flee.
As we then hear Benji say, if they do catch him, he is in big trouble, outnumbered three to one.
Bad news for the rest of the pride.
What happens to the resident male is unclear, although we hear Benji tell his guests that he is blind and can no longer defend his females.
This is particularly bad news for one of those females, who we see engaged in a skirmish with one of the intruders in the next scene.
Things look about to get a lot worse as another of the intruding males arrives to aid his compatriot.
The pair round on the female, forcing her to seek refuge in the water.
At this point, it looks like the takeover of this pride is a done deal. With the resident male chased off and the females forced to submit to the new arrivals, there is only one thing left to do to complete the job.
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Violent takeover rituals
As the third male arrives on the scene, we learn that it has, in fact, already begun, as Benji tells his guests that one of the pride’s cubs lies dead nearby.
As brutal as it is, this is a vital step in pride takeovers. If females have dependent cubs, they are unlikely to mate.
Therefore, new pride males must seek out and kill all dependent offspring. By doing so, it brings the lionesses into oestrus, thus allowing the new males to mate and create their own lineage.
Do a better job
However, the lioness does not go down without a fight. This too has a purpose.
Having just seen her former protector running for his life, she wants to be sure that the new arrivals will do a better job of protecting her and her future cubs.
As the video comes to an end, we see the males retreat from the water. The lioness is bowed but unbeaten, and hopefully, her immediate future is secure in the care of the new pride males.