Written by: Flo Montgomery
Buffalo are the favourite diet of the lions in Ruaha National Park.
When the herds move elsewhere in the wet season, some lion prides have
learned to bring down giraffe and even elephant, but as soon as the
buffalo return to Ruaha it’s open season for these powerful hunters.
We found the famous buffalo herd of Ruaha National Park, about 1000
animals strong, near a dry river bed in the morning. They were grazing
while slowly moving towards the river to drink water. There wasn’t much
left in the river bed so they were funneling down, almost in single
file.
Then I saw something on the opposite side of the river that caught my
eye. I told the guests we should cross over to the other side and have a
look. We engaged the four-wheel drive and crossed the soft sand. The
Land Cruiser ambled over with no issues. It soon became clear that the
bush gods were looking down on us favourably. On the other side were 12
lions all lying low in the grass, primed for a hunt and waiting for
their opportunity.
There was a nice big old tamarind tree which we parked the car under
for some cool shade. We turned the engine off and watched for the next
two hours.
Some very exciting ambushes were set, and one by one the lions charged and faced off with a buffalo that they had singled out.
Amazingly, not one of the attempts ended in a kill. A good day for
the buffalo, and no lions were injured so while they may have gone away
hungry, they at least avoided any nasty encounters with horns! We were
happy as we drove back to camp for a sundowner and dinner.
On another occasion lions were more successful,
taking down three buffalo in quick succession.
Video:
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