Buffalo and lion are old enemies and on most occasions the lions are the hunters, and the buffalo the prey…
Lion are very wary of tackling buffalo unless they have a “team effort” in numbers, and often still require a large male lion to administer the final “coup de grace”.
Very often a large herd of buffalo will attract the following of a pride of lion, which then learn to specialise in killing buffalo. It would be safe to say that where you find a large herd of buffalo, lion will not be far away!
In this unique sequence of images, the buffalo far outnumbered the lion pride, which gave them the confidence to become the hunters, as opposed to their usual role as the prey.
As seen on Daily Mail Online
The main herd (300+ buffalo) making its way through the bush towards the water:
Two young male lion are rudely flushed from their resting place by a very aggressive buffalo bull:
The chase gets faster and the lions accelerate to escape:
They turn and accelerate towards the open area:
Unfortunately another buffalo bull heads them off and takes a swipe at the younger lion, while the older male lion seeks cover by jumping between the two fallen trees in front of the green bush:
The buffalo bull manages a glancing blow to the hind-quarters of the young lion and knocks him off balance:
The young lion quickly recovers his balance and heads in our direction toward safety:
The buffalo now notice the older male lion hiding between the two fallen logs and proceed to vent their extreme anger. Their intention was very clear – to kill their enemy! (This image shows the buffalo actually taking a bite at the lion’s hindquarters with the responding grimace of pain and defiance in the lion’s eyes.):
Unnerved, the male lion turns, spots a gap, and dashes between the legs of other buffalo:
The rest of the highly agitated buffalo pursue the fleeing lion. (Notice their tails that are erect with anger. There’s only one thing on their minds – death to lion!):
