There are times when nature appears to show no mercy. In this instance, a female buffalo’s broken leg left her vulnerable to three male lions, who surrounded her, without remorse.
Jan explained they had been out on a drive looking for buffalo. “On Jock Concession, we can drive in the riverbeds, so I drove towards the Biyamiti Bridge,” he said.
He said they had found a herd of buffalo and stayed to view the sighting, until the heard slowly dissipated. However, he noticed that once they had left, one from the herd had been left behind!
Get our Best Sightings as they Come in
This was when he spotted three male lions in the vicinity.
“As I reversed the vehicle, I suddenly caught a glimpse of three male lions, making their way into the direction of the resting buffalo! The one lion started stalking from the rocks, behind the buffalo, as the other two made the female aware of their presence by pursuing from the front.”
Lion approaches lone buffalo
With the covering of the herd gone, the lone buffalo was easy prey. More so, when it became evident that the buffalo had a broken front leg!
One of the male lions approached the buffalo, which put up a brave fight, using its horns and confident stance to ward off the lion.
Pride unites to confront buffalo
However, it didn’t take long for the rest of the male lions to join their pride member. Together, the lions stood as a united front against the buffalo, approaching the brave creature slowly at first, before closing in.
“The buffalo put up a good fight but the lions were more than she could handle on her own, especially with a broken front leg.”
While the lions had initially kept their distance when they had approached the buffalo, they now launched an attack on the large animal, with one of them jumping on the creature’s back to pull it to the ground with great force.
Lions typically bring down buffalo by targeting their hindquarters or rear legs, causing them to collapse. Once the buffalo is down, the rest of the pride joins in to finish the kill, as in this instance.
One lion typically clamps its jaws over the buffalo’s snout to suffocate it. Another might then try to snap its neck or crush its windpipe.
Sadly, even before the buffalo has died, the lions will start to feed on the animal.
This is exactly what happened in this sighting. Once the buffalo had fallen to the ground, it let out a terrible cry of pain. The rest of the pride joined the first lion in tearing at the animal’s flesh and pinning it down with great power.
The three males tore at the buffalo with their teeth, taking large bites out of it. The buffalo eventually grew silent, and the lions settled down for a feast. “The lions ended Christmas with a buffalo meal for dinner,” said Jan.
There’s the old adage, ‘Survival of the fittest’. A buffalo with a broken leg stood no chance against the King of the Jungle.