Desperate struggles for survival can characterize many moments for animals living in the wild. For one unlucky antelope, this struggle was about to come to an untimely end.
Francis Kijazi caught the huge eland’s last moments on camera and sent the footage in to Latest Sightings. Despite the relative shortness of the moment, the eland didn’t give up without a fight, and it forced the lions to work for their meal.
Desperate For Survival
At the beginning of the footage, the unlucky eland was desperately trying to avoid the lions for as long as it could to prolong its own life. With several male lions surrounding the unfortunate prey it was a futile attempt, but that wasn’t going to stop it trying.
If it had managed to break free from the feline formation it may have been able to make a break for it, but before the eland could free itself, one of the lions leapt upon its back and went straight for the neck.
Such a take down is textbook for big cats which like to avoid drawn out conflicts in favor of a swift and killing blow, but this eland refused to give in and kept putting up a good fight.
More Resilient Than Expected
With its strength, the male lion might have anticipated a quick take down of the eland, but even with the weight of an adult lion hanging from its neck, the antelope refused to go down to the ground.
The other big cats responded quickly, but in the end it took the combined weight of three of them to fully overpower the eland and render it immobile.
If it was only a single lion the antelope might have managed to buck it off and escape, but three were just too many for it to make it out alive. The lions dragged it down to the ground and trapped it there.
Indomitable Spirit
Even then, the eland didn’t quit. It could barely move beneath the weight of three lions, but right up until the end of Francis’ footage it struggled against them, even as their jaws closed tighter around it.
With it unable to move on the ground, the big cats would be able to dispatch of the eland quickly and without fuss. Despite this, the eland was still desperate for survival and it was going to struggle until the end.
A faultless attitude, but one which was ultimately fruitless. The lions had to eat to ensure their own survival, and this eland was unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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Getting The Job Done
These three male lions had secured more than enough meat for themselves, but the rest of the pride was nowhere in sight. With other predators or scavengers potentially active in the area, the lions would need to guard the carcass until they were finished with it.
Lionesses are stereotypically the hunters in lion prides, while the males enforce their territorial boundaries. These three lions had showed that they were just as capable of bring down prey when they needed to.
Watching animals killing each other can be distressing, but the death of the eland was pivotal for the lives of the lions, and the circle of life continues to turn.