Just as a mother buffalo helps protects her calf from a leopard and thinks it is all over, they run right into a hungry male lion!
This incredible turn of events was captured by Matthew Steyn while on his trip to the Kruger National Park with his family.
Matthew tells us the story: “We were on our way back to Pretoriuskop using the Voortrekker road when we spotted this amazing scene!”
“We stopped in the riverbed to watch a herd of buffalo. Amongst the herd, we noticed a brand newborn calf that was just starting to learn how to walk for the first time. But, shortly after this, my son spotted a leopard in the reeds, rights amongst all the buffaloes!”
“After some time, the rest of the herd seemed to move off slowly, leaving the mother and calf behind – alone. The mother and calf were completely unaware of the leopard. But now, not only the leopard, a lion decided to show up to the party!”
In the video, you can see the moment the mother could smell something was up. She started sniffing around to eventually find the leopard in the reeds. She chased the leopard away, unknowingly, right into the lion!
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The lion tried to get to the calf, but the mother was too protective. “Unfortunately, we lost sight of the lion following the calf into the bush, but am pretty sure that newborn wouldn’t have lasted long on the run like that and not being able to suckle. Weirdly the rest of the herd never came to their rescue and were in fact headed in the opposite direction.”
