Safari media platform Latest Sightings recently uploaded a video from a traveller who saw a clan of hyenas corner and intimidate a female lion last month in Kruger National Park.
According to the site that curates and invites safari-goers to send in their wildlife snaps and clips, the video was submitted by a 19 year-old student named Amber Soames who was near the park’s Satara Rest Camp in October.
In the two-minute video, a cackle of hyenas move in on a lioness near some long grass. High-pitched whining emanates from the clan and there are at least six hyenas in the immediate vicinity, including one right behind her in the grass on slightly higher ground. As they continually approach and retreat every few seconds, the lioness stands her ground, and you can hear her sonorous roars as the hyenas become agitated, trying to get at her from the sides.
Two other lionesses eventually show up rather nonchalantly at first. They soon break into a run, roaring and chasing after the hyenas who split up and flee in different directions. If you look closely in the video, you’ll also notice some other scavengers hanging around (a curious black-backed jackal and two vultures) just in case the hyenas came up trumps.
Featured image by G Gallice – Flickr
