This intense footage shows a duo of lions forced to protect a freshly killed male buffalo.
For lions, confronting an adult buffalo is a calculated risk. If the hunt goes well, the reward is a sumptuous feast for all to be proud of, but a buffalo is hardly an easy target.
If the big cats succeed in knocking one down without being impaled by its impressive horns, a cry of pain can drag a herd to the scene, forcing lions to fend off buffalo “cavalry”.
We caught two male lions chasing a herd of buffalo. The lions chased the buffalo at the bottom of the river and when we caught up with them, they rushed out and knocked one of the bulls down.
We wait to see if they try to drive away the lions. One bull stepped up to the challenge… but it seemed to realize that its fallen herd member had gone too far, so it retreated.