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This nail-biting sighting took place in the Selinda Reserve in Botswana.

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 to their pride members on the other side.

Amazing video of an impala that was chased into the muddy water by lions. While struggling to get away, a hippopotamus came and killed the impala.

Shocking but incredible video of an angry elephant attacking and killing a buffalo using his tusks.

Nazeem Mohammed, a 49-year-old Trade Finance Banker, tells LatestSightings.com the story:
“Early Monday morning in December 2018, we shot this scene right near Malelane Gate.

To license the footage:
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It was a quiet, uneventful drive along the S114 where I was filming Impala, Spurfowl and some elephant along the way before coming across a warthog family.

At first, just filming the warthog, it appeared to be an uneventful, run-of-the-mill drive. For some reason, I kept filming as the piglets ran from beneath one tree to the next before crossing over the road. My family and I were completely unaware of the Martial Eagle who remained hidden until the piglets crossed the road in the open.

My son was first to notice the eagle swoop in from the left, just out of shot and thankfully I maintained a steady hand and kept the piglets in focus. Only once the Eagle hooked its target did I realise just what a remarkable sighting I had just caught! Excitement naturally took over… We remained with the kill despite the many cars which stopped to investigate the sighting but who left soon after.

2 hours later, once the eagle felt comfortable enough and flew down from the nearby tree again, it secured the piglet in its talon and walked it across the S114 to a nearby bush under which it fed. At that point, given the number of cars also jockeying for position to see this, we left with an amazing memory.

This sighting is even rarer than a big cat kill, as there is very little to none easily available footage of a martial eagle kill in the Kruger Park.

This wondrous wildlife haven we call the Kruger National Park can turn the most mundane, uneventful sighting into something memorable, if one is but patient. I would advise visitors to stop and enjoy everything of interest and not just chase that elusive cat sighting… Given time, as this video proves, anything can happen at any time.

The Martial Eagle is one of the most majestic and elegant of the eagle species. Seeing one execute a successful kill after remaining so well hidden is a once in a lifetime sighting. I hope all Kruger and bird lovers enjoy this video as much as my family and I did of the sighting in person.”

Graeme was excited about the sighting and told LatestSightings.com: “My wife and I had seen a lot of lions in that area in 2016. Due to the drought, the animals came to drink and the lions were there waiting for them. On this particular day there wasn’t an animal in sight, never mind any lions. I commented to my wife that I would love to know where they had all got to. A few minutes later, out of nowhere a lion came walking out of the dry bush with something in its mouth.
At first, it looked like a lioness carrying her cub. However, at second glance, it turned out to be a young male carrying a newborn antelope.

The young lion carried the antelope down into the dry riverbed where we lost visual, but could still hear the antelope bleating.
The lion went into the riverbed also because there were white-backed vultures, hooded vultures and marabou storks in the vicinity hoping to take off with the buck. I think this was pure opportunism on the part of the lion as he must have stumbled upon the newborn whilst walking through the bush.
I am not sure what happened to its mom but she may have been grazing and wandered a bit too far off from her youngster.

While the sighting was being played out, adrenaline was flowing! But watching the video, I could hear the little buck bleating, which wasn’t nice at all.
My wife was almost in tears and given a chance she would have rescued the poor thing.
We visit the Kruger often but this was a rare sighting for both of us.
That’s why the KNP is the best place on Earth, you never know what lies in wait around the following bend!”

Amber explains the story to LatestSightings.com: “After stopping for Coffee at Tshokwane picnic site, we heard from a man passing that there were lions on a wildebeest kill, just 5kms away. So we definitely decided to head straight there.

When we arrived at the sighting, feeling amped and totally unaware of what was about to happen, I found the right spot just on the bend of the loop where I could look down at the lion on the kill.

When I first got there, there were only a few (+- 5) hyena, but after about 10 minutes, the lion was completely surrounded by them. I could see cars a just a bit further up the road, which I assumed were looking at the rest of the pride, which I later found out that they were.

I watched a hyena for a while running around with the Wildebeest’s leg and then noticed that the other Hyenas were also interested in this leg. By this time, I’m extremely entertained watching the Hyenas fight over a leg whilst listening to the lion chomp on the remaining wildebeest kill, still unaware of what was to come.

Not long after fighting for the leg, the hyenas made a beeline for the lion and made all sorts of noise indicating that they were up for a challenge. This was when I knew something awesome was going to go down.

One by one they went for the lion, biting his rear and trying their best to get the kill but the lion was not having it and gave a good fight, as 1 male lion against 12 hyena could, for his kill. Soon after this started I noticed that the rest of the pride, a few 100 meters away, heard his moans and came running to help. This was when the females charged at the hyenas.

This all happened so quickly but wow! It was so awesome.

I became excited as the suspense grew, I just knew that some sort of drama was going to unfold and I was so ready for it.

The sighting ended with the hyenas running for the hills, the lions regrouped and fell asleep in the riverbed.

For other visitors to the park that are at a sighting like this, the advice I would give is to just have patience and persistence because when there are numerous predators at the same scene, the action of some sort has got to give way.

Kraai (my wife and best friend of 41 years) and I, were booked into a cabin at Gharagab. On our arrival at 2pm the camp was quiet and it was cooking hot. During the evening we saw that there was a brown and also a spotted hyena at water hole with a few springbok and an eland in the background. The eland was very nervous and disappeared into the night without a sip of water. It was obvious that there were predators roaming this area as all animals were extremely cautious.

At 03h30 next morning we were woken by lion roars somewhere in the vicinity. We both smiled and knew that was why we came all the way to Gharagab on the bad Kgalagadi roads. I decided to sit outside on the wood deck merely a meter above ground level and listen to the night sounds but my wife reprimanded me and said it was too dangerous. It was awfully quiet so I went back to bed. At 05h00, I was woken by “something” and I felt uneasy, what had woken me? I walked out onto the wooden deck from where I could clearly see the water hole. My neck hair raised as I became aware of “something” and a strange smell was in the air but it was dark and I could not see anything.

I was peering into the night when I noticed movement happening in front of the deck. There they were, lions… Once I regained control of my heart beat and breathing rhythm, I smelt the familiar scent of them. By now all my senses were awakened and I was immediately aware of the potential risk and danger so close by. I moved slowly back into the cabin, which felt like eternity, only 3-4 steps. The damn wood floor of the cabin made an awful lot of noise, each heart beat was a canon sound against my ribs case. Kraai was sitting in her bed and asked in a lowered voice “Lou is it you, what’s wrong?”. From the open cabin door we were watching the lions and attempting to close the cabin door but with each movement and noise the lioness closest to the deck was looking right into my eyes. After a few minutes we realized that 3 lionesses were right in front of our wood deck. Previously we had experienced a close encounter with lions in the central Kalahari and we had no desire to repeat such experience. Once in a lifetime is too much. We stood dead still watching these lions less than 5m from our flimsy wood cabin, not out of curiosity but out of fear and respect.

31-year-old, Organ Sabiepark, who works at Sabie Park just outside the Paul Kruger Gate, was able to capture this moment on film.
Organ tells us: “I have the best job in the entire world! Getting to spend the whole day being with animals, there is nothing like it”
This was the first time I’ve seen an eagle killing anything.
I was working at the picnic site, as usual, when I heard a noise coming from nearby. I started looking around and suddenly spotted the Sparrowhawk strangling a Jacobin Cuckoo.

When I watched the sighting play itself out, I felt sad about what was happening! The Sparrowhawk was biting the Jacobin Cuckoo and trying to kill it, all while the cuckoo was fighting for its life and trying to escape.
At the end, after fighting extremely long and hard, the Cuckoo managed to get away. That was in some way a great relief.”

Sparrowhawks rely on the element of surprise and as such will often follow a regular route to get close to potential prey.

Khanyisa received such a powerful and emotional greeting from the Jabulani herd when she joined them in the bush on Saturday.

It was an incredible experience to capture this greeting ceremony, as they rushed to welcome Khanyisa. The intense trumpeting, roaring and array of very expressive displays happen all at once, including head raising, urination, defecation, spinning, secretion from their temporal glands, amongst other behaviour.

Klaserie, Bubi and Setombe reacted first, running to meet her. Soon after the rest of the herd joined very quickly – it is impressive to see how fast they can run!

During the excitement, Khanyisa is caressed by many loving and protective trunks as her family surrounded her lovingly.

Fishan, a bull who fractured his leg in 2018, took a bit longer to join in due to not having full mobility of his leg. But join, he did! Jabulani (second most dominant bull in the herd) took his time to join the ceremony, but he had been with Khanyisa as they had met up with the rest of the herd.

Klaserie and Setombe showed some curiosity towards the end as Adine was with Khensani, one of Khanyisa’s carers who the herd are not too familiar with as of yet.

It was a fantastic display of excitement, happiness, love and protection for little Khanyisa by her unique and accepting family.

Once in a life-time sighting of lions seizing an opportunity to hunt a newborn giraffe! The mother of the giraffe tries her hardest to save her calf, but unfortunately she isn’t successful.

A Mother’s Unbreakable Will: Giraffe Bravely Defends Calf from Lion Hunt

The African savanna is a landscape of breathtaking beauty and brutal reality, a theatre where life and death play out in a constant, dramatic cycle. In a recent encounter, captured in stunning photographs and videos, a mother giraffe showcased the primal instinct of protecting her young, courageously battling a pride of lions attempting to snatch her calf.

The drama unfolded under the scorching African sun. A young giraffe, barely a few weeks old, was grazing near its mother, seemingly oblivious to the lurking danger. Unbeknownst to them, a pride of lions, driven by hunger, had patiently stalked them through the tall grasses. Lions, formidable predators, are a constant threat to giraffes, especially the vulnerable young ones.

Suddenly, chaos erupted. The lions, their stealth abandoned, launched their attack. The mother giraffe, instantly aware of the peril, reacted with lightning speed. Her towering height and powerful legs, usually a source of graceful foraging, became weapons in a desperate fight for survival.

Witnesses described the scene as a breathtaking display of maternal ferocity. The giraffe, with her calf huddled behind her, used her long legs to deliver devastating kicks to the approaching lions. She swung her neck, attempting to knock the predators off balance. The lions, though powerful and seasoned hunters, were met with unexpected resistance.

The battle was fierce and unrelenting. Dust billowed as the giraffe fought tooth and claw (or rather, hoof) to defend her offspring. The lions, undeterred, circled, looking for an opening to isolate the calf. The mother giraffe, however, remained steadfast, her focus unwavering, her determination radiating across the savanna.

This isn’t the typical giraffe behavior often associated with gentle giants. Instead, it was a visceral display of the unyielding power of maternal instinct. The mother giraffe was willing to risk her own life to protect her vulnerable young.

The outcome of this particular encounter remains a testament to the power of a mother’s love. While the exact aftermath is often difficult to ascertain in the wild, reports suggest that the mother giraffe successfully fended off the lions, at least for the time being.

This incident serves as a potent reminder of the harsh realities of life in the wild. It highlights the constant struggle for survival faced by animals on the African savanna. It also showcases the extraordinary strength and resilience of mothers, regardless of species, who are willing to do anything to protect their young.