Watch: Buffalo fights off lions and croc before herd rushes to the rescue
At 900 kilograms (2,000 lbs), an adult Cape buffalo bull can weigh as much as a small car. That’s a tough target for even the most ambitious of predators. A group of tourists in South Africa’s Kruger National Park recently witnessed the buffalo’s steely resolve first-hand when they watched an old bull survive an attack from a pride of lions and a croc.
On a game drive in the south of the reserve, Thuli Khumalo, head of Atamela Tours, steered a vehicle full of eager tourists to the banks of Transport Dam – a favourite drinking spot for grazers like buffalo, zebra and impala. With plenty of prey in the area, predators are never too far away and it wasn’t long before the group spotted a pride of lions hiding in a patch of shade overlooking the water. “If you spot lions hiding in the shade at a waterhole, it is often a good idea to stick around,” the team from Latest Sightings explain over on their blog. Lions are opportunistic and will take on just about anything that wanders too close.
After an unsuccessful hunting attempt on a herd of impalas, the cats turned their attention to an old buffalo bull standing near the water’s edge. The bull, wise to the intentions of the lions, retreated to the water in an effort to escape, but was quickly sent back to shore by the snapping jaws of a crocodile. While it’s unlikely that a croc would typically target prey as large as an adult buffalo, these prehistoric predators will take on just about anything in the hopes of tearing off a morsel of meat (not even elephants are safe!).
Back on dry land, the buffalo was forced to defend itself from repeated charges by the lions. The cats had numbers on their side and had surrounded the buffalo making retreat almost impossible. And then the cavalry arrived. A huge herd of buffalo were making their way to the dam when they spotted the commotion and charged in to see off the threat.
For lions, attacking an adult buffalo is a calculated risk. If the hunt is successful, the spoils can provide a feast for the entire pride, but a buffalo is no easy target. Even if the lions succeed in bringing one down without getting skewered by its horns, distress calls often draw the rest of the buffalo herd to the scene.
Battles between lions and buffalos play out quite often in the African wilds, and, although they are not often witnessed, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen these massive herbivores taking on their feline rivals. Footage from Timbavati Private Nature Reserve shows a buffalo herd successfully saving one of their own from a pride of lions on the hunt, and the well-known Battle at Kruger clip (which was filmed at this very dam) is a perfect example of a herd working as a unit to protect an individual in peril.