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Home Animals Watch Baboons Get Stuck On Bridge To Avoid Lions

Watch Baboons Get Stuck On Bridge To Avoid Lions

Careless baboons find themselves trapped beneath the West Street Bridge when a pride of lions takes them by surprise.

Oscar Betts
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Mike Botes, a guide at the MalaMala Game Reserve was treated to a hilarious sight on 20 June 2023, when a pride of lions he was following started heading towards the Sand River.

He said they “thought they were headed for the Sand River, perhaps in search of a drink. But it soon became apparent that they did not actually want to drink but rather wanted to cross the Sand River.”

The West Street Bridge that spans the Sand River is popular with troops of baboons, who use it as a vantage point to keep an eye on their surroundings, and ensure that predators, like lions, don’t get the drop on them.

Botes described the troop as “soaking up the morning sun on the bridge. Unfortunately for them, the warm sun was so good that they lost focus and did not see the lions approaching.”

Taken By Surprise

Distracted by the lovely weather, the baboons didn’t realize the pride was so close until it was already too late, and had no other option than to drop below the bridge, out of reach of the lions.

Baboons and lions do occasionally come into conflict, but this is something which baboons typically try to avoid, by keeping together in large groups and maintaining a lookout in high places, like the bridge, that lions ordinarily can’t reach.

Being monkeys, baboons are exceptional climbers whereas lions are notoriously poor at it, even when compared to the other big cats. This means that if it did ever come to a fight, the agility of the baboons would give them a much needed edge.

Monkey Business

Rather than commit to any kind of conflict, however, the baboons seemed perfectly content to taunt the lions from their safe place beneath the bridge.

Unfortunately for them, all they could do was taunt. Although they were safe beneath the bridge they were effectively trapped, unable to get back up without going past the lions.

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Brains vs Brawn

It’s definitely a good thing the baboons have the intelligence to pick their fights as, in a one on one it’s clear that the lion would emerge victorious. Against their size, power, claws and teeth the baboons have only their own sharp canines for defense, as well as their social structure.

They wouldn’t be long for this world if they weren’t able to assess when those teeth just aren’t enough. The bigger advantage of baboons, is their far superior numbers.

A Lion’s Pride Against An Army

To put it into perspective, a lion pride is considered large when it reaches thirty individuals while a baboon troop averages around fifty, and can reach over two hundred.

On top of the numbers advantage baboons have in their troops, different troops might team up together against lions if they deem it necessary to keep each other safe. With an aggressive display from that many monkeys, even a hungry lion is likely to think twice about attacking.

Unfortunately for lions, baboons seem to be more adaptable to the pressures of the modern world too, with none of the seven species of baboon being considered at risk.

Alongside climate pressures affecting lion habitats and the availability of their food, one of the biggest threats to lion survival is human action.


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