Claudia Griffin sent this video to Latest Sightings. She filmed it while visiting Pilanesberg National Park in South Africa.
Unidentified kill
As Claudia and her companions made their way through the park, a commotion on a distant hilltop caught her attention. It turned out that a male and female lion had caught an unidentified animal and were in the process of killing it.
Despite being at a considerable distance, Claudia zoomed in as much as possible and started filming the unfolding events.
Fresh prey
As we join the action, the male and female appear to be struggling to subdue their freshly caught prey. Each has it in their jaws, and it looks like the male is trying to wrestle it away from her.
Scenes like this are common, even when the male doesn’t take an active role in the hunt itself. Bigger and stronger than their female counterparts, male lions tend to put their own needs first.
By the same token, adult females will often bully younger lions when food is involved.
Prey subdued
Eventually, the lions managed to get their prey under control. While the female went about asphyxiating it, the male took a breather.
Third lion arrives
Subsequently, when the prey was dead, the two lions began to feed. As they did, a third lion arrived on the scene. And this is when things started to spiral.
Jealously protective of the kill, the male took exception to the newcomer’s arrival. To warn her off, he lunged over the first female…
Equally possessive, the lioness lashed out, possibly thinking the male meant to attack her. With that, the original pair started fighting with one another. Not wanting to get involved, the newly arrived lioness kept her distance.
Control of the kill
Trading blows, the lions fought for control of the kill. Meanwhile, the third lioness circled, waiting for the ruckus to subside.
While the male was nearly double the weight of the female, she was far from backing down. Although smaller, lionesses are only reluctantly submissive, ready to give as good as they get.
Eventually, the pair settled their differences and once again settled down to feed. All the while, the third lion had been keeping a close eye on proceedings, and this was the moment she’d been waiting for.
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Cautious approach
Cautiously, she approached her feeding pride mates from behind. With any luck, she’d join the feast in seconds.
However, as she drew near, another scuffle broke out between the original pair. As the dust and fur flew, she patiently waited on the outskirts.
Eventually, the lions settled down once more, opening the door for the third lion to approach. Slowly and carefully, she wedged herself between the other two lions, finally sinking her teeth into the heavily contested carcass.
Shortly after this, the video comes to an end. We can only hope that each of the lions got their fair share.
As the video shows, although they live socially, violence between pride mates is not uncommon, particularly when food is involved. In a world ruled by the principle of survival of the fittest, lion societies are a prime example.