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The most incredible video of a black rhino stuck in a mud pool, when 3 nearby lions decide to take their chance to get a meal.

The African savanna is a brutal theater where survival is a daily struggle. Recently, a stark reminder of this reality unfolded when a pride of lions seized a rare opportunity, targeting a black rhino hopelessly stuck in thick mud. The dramatic encounter, captured by wildlife photographers, paints a picture of vulnerability and the relentless pursuit of predators.

The rhino, a critically endangered species already battling poaching and habitat loss, found itself in dire straits after becoming trapped in a muddy watering hole. Its immense size and powerful frame, usually its defense, became a liability as it struggled to free itself from the mire’s suffocating grip.

The distress call, whether vocal or through scent, didn’t go unnoticed. A pride of lions, drawn by the prospect of an easy meal, cautiously approached the trapped giant. Lions typically avoid confronting healthy rhinos, whose thick hide and formidable horn pose a significant threat. However, the rhino’s immobilized state presented an irresistible temptation.

Eyewitness accounts describe the tense moments as the lions circled the rhino, assessing its predicament. The lead lion, likely a dominant female or male, tested the waters, cautiously nudging the rhino. The rhino, despite its confinement, put up a valiant fight, thrashing its head and attempting to gore its attackers.

What followed was a desperate battle for survival. The lions, working in unison, launched a coordinated attack. While the muddy ground hindered their movements, the rhino was even more restricted. The lions targeted the rhino’s flanks and legs, attempting to weaken it and bring it down.

The outcome of such encounters is often dictated by a multitude of factors, including the size of the pride, the rhino’s strength and resilience, and even the weather conditions. While some reports suggest the rhino was able to eventually free itself from the mud and repel the lions, others indicate a more tragic ending.

Regardless of the specific outcome, the incident highlights the precarious position of rhinos and the constant threats they face in the wild. It serves as a stark reminder of the interconnectedness of the ecosystem and the brutal realities of life on the African savanna.

A brave lechwe attempts to cross the crocodile-infested Chobe River in search of greener pastures but gets chased by a hungry crocodile.

“As we cruised along the Chobe River in Botswana, we were treated to the sight of numerous animals coming to the river’s edge to drink. Our guide suddenly pointed out a lechwe (a large antelope with a distinctive red coat) swimming across the river. It was a peaceful scene until a crocodile emerged from the water and made a beeline for the lechwe.”

“We all held our breath as the lechwe, sensing the danger, began to swim faster. The crocodile, determined to make a meal of the lechwe, hastened his pace. The lechwe and crocodile continued their high-speed chase across the river. The lechwe, with its powerful legs, was able to stay just ahead of the crocodile, but it was close.”

Lechwe are medium-to-large antelope that prefer marshes and river systems. They have specially adapted long legs that allow them to easily power through the water when pursued. These antelope are commonly found in areas of Botswana such as the Chobe River System.

“At one point, the crocodile snapped its jaws shut, missing the lechwe by mere inches. The lechwe, sensing that it was in the clear, began to swim towards the shore.”

“The crocodile, not ready to give up its prey, continued its pursuit. We were all amazed at the sheer athleticism and determination of both the lechwe and the crocodile. The lechwe, with its powerful legs, was able to swim faster and more efficiently than the crocodile, but the crocodile’s strength and endurance allowed it to keep up.”

Crocodiles, being such large reptiles, do not commonly hunt prey by chasing it down. They tend to prefer stalking and ambushing. However, they will not pass up the opportunity when presented.

“As the lechwe reached the shore, we all let out a collective sigh of relief. It was a truly incredible experience to witness such a dramatic and intense struggle. The Chobe River is truly a must-visit destination for anyone interested in wildlife and nature. Whether you’re a seasoned traveller or a first-time visitor, you’re sure to be captivated by the beauty and drama of this stunning region.”

Lions are often referred to as the kings of the jungle. For the most part, this is true, as they are very dominant and territorial animals and of course predators by nature. They are incredible hunters and do not step out of their territories without good reason. But of course, just like any other animal – they will need to move through difficult terrain and risk dangerous encounters. Especially when their circumstances require it.

This pride of lion was attempting to cross the Selinda spillway in Botswana. They were clearly aware of the hippos around them but obviously felt the need to get to the other side of the river. As soon as they started to cross, they realized they were now in unchartered waters that had already been claimed. But was it too late to turn around?

Hippos are also very territorial and also known as very dangerous animals – especially when one gets too close to the water. Four lions crossing were understandably a threat to these hippos as they just saw these massive lions entering their territory. Unaware that the cats were most probably merely trying to cross.

The one hippo makes it his mission to get these lions out of the water. Not to necessarily eat or even injure the lion severely. Merely to make it clear that they do not welcome uninvited guests in their home.

Two lions succeeded in crossing the river, but the other two managed to turn around in time and swim back to the other side. All in all, no lions were severely injured. However, half of the pride were yet to decide how to get back over

This injured leopard was down and out of his luck when a clan of hyenas came across his path, and being opportunistic by nature, the hyenas did not waste any time diving in to attack…

Fransie Booysen (57), captured the footage on last week, on the H14, about 12 km from the H9. She told Latestsightings.com about the experience: “We were in the park the whole day driving around and we saw lots of normal game. At approximately 15:30 we happened to come across this sighting. I noticed what looked to be a very thin and injured leopard who was being surrounded and bullied by a few hyenas.”

“I could see that the leopard was in great distress and great trouble. This sighting was very rare to me, as we have stayed just outside the Kruger for 11 years and we are in the Park at least once a week, and we have never seen or experienced a similar sighting.”

“As the sighting started playing itself out, I was terrified, as this was so disturbing and cruel. I couldn’t help but be in tears, however, I know that this is the way of nature. I was watching how the hyenas kept on trying to bite the leopard and they were relentless in antagonising him.”

“The hyenas eventually backed off a little distance away and then the badly injured leopard struggled to get into a culvert. The hyenas also went to this culvert and we could hear them, but couldn’t see anything anymore. I am not sure of the fate of this leopard but analysing the situation one can only imagine that his destiny was sealed.”

“Always take in the greatness of the surroundings you are in no matter how hard they might be to handle.”

“The reserve is situated in a very remote destination and can only be accessed by a boat, making it quite an exclusive site. Once there, we were welcomed with lunch on the water’s edge & shortly after that we embarked on our afternoon game drive. We were driving around the marshy wetlands on the island where we encountered a herd of elephant and a crash of rhinos – it was here where the standoff began.

It was an absolutely amazing sensation to see & be a part of the standoff where a young elephant bull in musth showed this male white rhino who was boss. We could all physically feel the testosterone aura which surrounded the battlefield of these 2 ancient rivals.

The sighting ended in a stalemate with no winner. I would, however, say, the balancing act of the branch and the elephant “throwing” the branch at the rhino was a somewhat cheeky ending to the tussle. I believe they both showed their belonging in the area with mutual respect, making both of them ultimate winners.

I think this standoff was an extremely rare sighting – it is not every day that we can personally engage with 2 of the big 5 at this level, hence sharing it with Latest Sightings.

If you’re ever so lucky to have this experience, then cherish every moment as it truly doesn’t happen every day – feel the energy and engage personally with our wonderful South African nature”.

We were about to leave when a lady told us that there is a leopard hiding in the bush and he was spooking the impala herds every now and then. He had however been unsuccessful the whole morning. We decided to wait and at about 14:00 he finally caught an impala. A number of impala were in the shallow water of a cemented dam.

The leopard chased and one impala slipped in the water. The leopard grabbed it by the neck and dragged it towards a tree, but along came a hyena and when it saw the leopard with the impala, it chased the leopard away. The impala was not dead and it got away in the confusion. The hyena rescued the impala by accident!

We were extremely excited and knew that we have witnessed something special. This was a first for us. I witnessed a cheetah kill before but never a leopard kill.

It is worth it to wait and spend time at waterholes. My wife Lynn took some pictures while I was videoing. My canon video camera has the function to include 3 seconds of material so that is why I could manage to get the whole incident on tape.”

“We were heading out of camp when we heard baboons alarm calling, so we raced to the riverbed in search of the commotion. We had just missed the actual catch but saw the rest of the impala scattering, so we knew something was going on and that’s when we spotted the leopard, dragging an impala, with a wild dog hot on its pursuit.

The lone wild dog, who is one of a pack made up of 11 adults and 10 pups, was yapping as the leopard dragged the meal (still alive at the time) up from the riverbed onto the open area that you see in the video.”

“The leopard managed to chase the wild dog off, but the wild dog called for the others and just before the leopard reached the tree to get its meal up to safety, away from the scavengers, the pack of wild dogs ran onto the scene and scared the leopard into the tree, leaving the impala on the ground. The impala saw the opportunity and tried to make a run for it, just before it was brought down again by the wild dogs!”

“The dogs quickly started making work of eating the meal while two others kept the leopard in the tree by jumping up and snarling at the leopard from below. It all went quiet for a while as the wild dogs feasted on the leopards’ well-earned meal, just before 2 hungry hyenas burst onto the scene as well, quickly making their way through the wild dogs, and to the meal. One hyena kept the wild dogs at bay while the other was enjoying the impala all to itself until a 3rd hyena also joined.”

“The wild dogs moved off into the bush for a while as a 4th hyena also made its way to the meal but was chased off by the other 3 hyenas. The wild dogs returned every so often to see if they could win the meal back, but, as the minutes past, there was less and less left of the carcass.”

“We only found out afterward that the dogs were about to bring the pups to the kill after dealing with the leopard, but stopped on the road not far away (out of shot) once the hyenas arrived. There were 9 hyenas in total which have been tracking the dogs all week and the previous day we saw the dogs chase the hyenas away from a waterhole when the pups needed to drink.”

“The hyenas finished off every shred of the impala except the head, within minutes, only stopping to fight with each other – and the largest female then made off with the head to a nearby open field. The leopard then came down the tree and followed the hyenas to see if he could pick up any scraps but ended up with nothing, just watching from a distance.”

This exhilarating sighting was captured by 62-year-old, David Pinkernell, a retired Hewlett Packard employee who enjoys travelling and volunteering for non-profits, while on safari with his wife Carrie and friends of 40 years (Andrea, Brad, and Leslie) in Chitake Springs in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe.

David tells LatestSightings.com the story: “Our amazing guide, Nick Murry, owner of Bushlife Safaris, put us in the perfect position to see a pride of 30 lions attack 300 very thirsty Cape Buffalo charging down to drink from the only water source available for many miles. We were standing on the edge of a cliff with no other people around, with no idea that we were going to see something extremely rare!”

“While at the waterhole, a dramatic back and forth battle occurred between the lions and buffaloes, the adults were doing their best to rescue the calves and after about 10 minutes at the waterhole the buffaloes ran back up the hillside.”

“As the buffalo ran up the hillside, the two male lions left their initial kills to chase the wounded calves. The two calves who had been rescued by the herd were once again the target and the two male lions went in for the kill this time the adult buffaloes were not able to rescue them.”

“My adrenalin was running and I got quite emotional but this is nature and it happens every day. It is just extremely rare to get footage of it.”

“My wife and I have been on 8 safaris arranged by Africa Adventure Company. On three of our trips, we visited Mana Pools. In 150 days on safari, we had never seen a lion kill. On day 3 of this safari, we saw more than 4 lion kills in less than 7 minutes! It was incredibly rare! Although, only 1 successful”

Just a jam packed action video of 3 huge male lions killing a lone male, when the calls of distress from the lone lion attracts a nearby herd of buffalo, this herd runs in to the action, causing the attacking lions to flee. But the luck of the lone lion goes worse when the buffaloes attack him too.

The African savanna is a land of fierce predators and resilient prey, a constant battleground where survival is a daily struggle. Recently, a dramatic incident unfolded, showcasing the raw intensity of this struggle and the unexpected alliances that can emerge. A lone lion found itself cornered by three male lions, undoubtedly facing a grim end, when a herd of Cape buffalo intervened, creating a spectacle that has captivated the world.

The incident, captured on camera by stunned onlookers, paints a vivid picture of the life-or-death situation. The three male lions, powerful and coordinated, had clearly marked their target. The lone lion, likely outnumbered and outmatched, was pinned down, its fate seemingly sealed. Lions, particularly male coalitions, are known to eliminate rivals to secure territory and dominance, and this lion appeared to be a victim of such ambition.

However, fate had other plans. A large herd of Cape buffalo, a formidable force in their own right, appeared on the horizon. These imposing creatures, often seen as lumbering grazers, possess a fierce protective instinct, particularly when threatened or witnessing injustice within their domain.

And that’s exactly what happened. Witnessing the lions’ attack, the buffalo herd, numbering in the dozens, charged towards the scene. The ground trembled beneath their hooves as they thundered towards the lions, their horns lowered and their collective presence a terrifying sight.

The three male lions, caught off guard by the sudden intervention, quickly realized the tables had turned. They abandoned their prey, choosing to prioritize their own safety over fulfilling their predatory instincts. The buffalo, relentless in their pursuit, chased the lions away, ensuring the lone lion was safe from harm.

The stunned lion, undoubtedly grateful for the unexpected rescue, slowly rose to its feet, surveying the scene in disbelief. It’s believed the buffalo sensed the unfairness of the attack and acted accordingly, highlighting the complex social dynamics and surprising acts of compassion that exist even in the brutal world of the African savanna.

This incredible event serves as a powerful reminder of the intricate web of life that connects all species within an ecosystem. It showcases the raw power of nature, the unexpected alliances that can form, and the unwavering will to survive. The image of the charging buffalo herd, saving a lion from certain death, is a testament to the power of collective action and a captivating example of the drama that unfolds daily in the heart of Africa. It is a reminder that even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, hope can emerge from the most unlikely of sources.

A leopard vs porcupine is but one of the iconic sightings that everyone wants to see.

Ard van de Wetering had an opportunity to capture that sighting on film on his trip to the Kruger National Park recently.