Lions Attack & Kill Buffalo Next to Vehicle

38 year old, Ahmed Ismail, was fortunate enough to witness this tremendous lion and buffalo hunt right next to him! Something some people wait a lifetime to witness.

He tells LatestSightings.com: ”Whilst driving along the H1-3 on a self-drive in the Kruger National Park, we knew we had hit the jackpot when we came across a pride of lionesses on the trail of buffaloes. There were five stunning lionesses and three strong buffalos, with the lionesses clearly in stalk mode.

One of the lionesses then broke away from the pack and flanked her way up around the buffalos to cut them off on the other side and chased them to the remaining four lionesses. What followed was a small battle between the lions and buffaloes with the latter retreating and disappearing into the field. We were disheartened as we believed we had missed out on witnessing a successful hunt. Our hearts were in our stomachs as we thought this was a failed hunt and that the carnivores had lost this battle. Little did we know what lay ahead was a rare occasion that we all would never forget.

After hearing a squealing sound from behind, I made a U-turn onto the Baobab loop where the family saw lionesses attacking a buffalo. Six lionesses were trying to take a buffalo down. During the scurry of “purring” and “whimpering” a male lion appeared and attempted to take the buffalo down from behind and tried to grip the crying buffalo down. Each member of my family of five had different reactions during the occasion. My wife was quivering and began crying as her heart softened for the buffalo. I felt excited at the prospect of being privileged enough to see a live kill but at the same time I felt empathy for the buffalo that was about to get killed. My boys aged 12 and 9 were excited and I could sense their adrenalin pumping, like real boys. My youngest daughter aged 6 was also excited, but more so because she got to see the young cubs.

The entire occasion lasted for about an hour and 20 minutes, with the buffalo eventually being overpowered by a 21pstrong Kumana pride of lions. For myself and the family the experience was “a dream come true” as we had never seen anything like this ever before. Being a nature and wild animal lover I’m a regular at the Kruger National Park and I had actually given up hope that I would ever be one of those fortunate enough to witness this before my very eyes. The Ismail family believe the 16th of July 2016 was simply the best day ever!”