Ten lion cubs take down a buffalo calf
A sighting in the Greater Kruger National Park showed the wonderful circle of life in the wild.
There are certain life stages and lessons that you have to go through in your youth, many of which will serve you well later in life. And, if you are a lion cub, perhaps one of the greatest lessons you will learn is how to hunt down prey to feed yourself.
The ten lion cubs that were spotted learning how to stalk and kill a buffalo at the Tintswalo Safari Lodge, Greater Kruger National Park offered field guide Christof Schoeman a rare opportunity to look in on an important parenting moment between lionesses and their young.
Christof described spotting three lionesses on a drive and noticing that they had captured a buffalo calf. They kept it alive and called to their cubs, who had been hiding by a nearby dam, to take over the kill.
This is their chance to show that they are able to follow instructions as one of the lionesses grabs a hold of the young buffalo's neck with its claws and then releases them, prompting the cubs to imitate the action. The lesson went on for more than an hour.
It is heartbreaking that the cubs had to practice killing on the helpless young buffalo, but it is the nature of life in the wild.
Christof felt privileged to have been at the sighting: "It’s always a dramatic occasion when you stumble across predators doing what they do best! It was such a privilege to watch a sighting like this unfold."