WATCH: Buffalo sends young lion somersaulting through the air
For young lions growing up in the African bushveld, there are many vital lessons to be learned: never burrow too vigorously into the butt of a carcass or your head may get stuck, dad always gets first dibs on a meal, and avoid the pointy bits at the front of a buffalo bull (to name a select few). Uploaded to the Latest Sightings YouTube channel recently, this clip shows a lion cub learning the hard way that buffaloes will readily go on the offensive (even when they aren’t under attack).
Tourist Sune Eloff was on a game drive in South Africa’s Kruger National Park when she came across a pride of lions resting in a dry riverbed. When the cats suddenly moved in the direction of some nearby reeds, Eloff readied her camera in anticipation of a hunt. One of the younger cats plunged into the reeds and emerged moments later with a writhing monitor lizard clenched in its jaws.
The adolescent lion quickly hauled its kill away from the rest of the pride and settled in some grass to enjoy the spoils (followed closely by a second subadult eager for a bite). Neither of the cats would get the chance, however. A buffalo bull – likely attracted by all the commotion – charged onto the scene, made a beeline for the cubs, dipped his head, and performed a spectacular lion-fling.
“To our absolute astonishment, the buffalo proceeded to get his head right under the puzzled lion and somersault him through the air,” Eloff told Latest Sightings.
Seemingly uninjured (save for its pride), the young lion ran off shortly after the altercation. The fate of the monitor lizard is unclear. While some commenters online have hailed the buffalo as a lizard-saving hero, it’s unlikely that the bulky herbivore had altruistic motives. Lions sometimes target buffaloes and this cat-flinger was probably just trying to see off the threat.
While they are not always witnessed, battles between lions and buffalos play out quite often in the African wilds, and this isn’t the first time we’ve seen these massive herbivores taking on their feline rivals. Back in 2016, tourists in Mala Mala Private Game Reserve witnessed an adolescent lion being flung around on the end of a buffalo horn, while footage from Tanzania in 2014 shows a buffalo herd successfully protecting a calf from a pride of lions on the hunt.