Safari & Company - Safari Adventures Custom Designed

Buffalo herd evicts a lion pride at Savuti

Sunday 9th November started out grey and overcast - the sort of unsettled weather that we often experience at the start of the summer rains. The air was delightfully cool after the heat of October. The morning's game viewing began with mating lions at Boscia, in the Savute Channel. This brief - but soon repeated - display of "affection" proved to be a mere prelude to an even more dramatic lion encounter in the Letsomo area, around 4km further west.

The Selinda Pride has recently been spending much more time near Savuti Camp. They have followed the movements of the game which in turn have been following the movement of the now-flowing Channel. The Pride was camped out for the morning on an island in the Channel. A relatively strong pride of ten lions, they certainly looked hungry and began to show a keen interest in a herd of around fifty buffalo which appeared on the scene just minutes after Savuti guides Kane, Sefo and Spike spotted the lions.

The buffalo herd was slowly moving towards the lions, grazing on the fresh new grass growth where the waters of the Channel have receded slightly. Keeping a low profile, the lions began to move into an ambush position as they inched closer and closer to their intended prey.

There was real tension in the air as the forward movement of both the lions and the buffalo brought these relentless enemies to within 30m of each other - and remarkably the buffalo still seemed oblivious to the presence of the lions.

The distance between the herd and the pride was diminishing rapidly. There was practically no cover on the island, but the lions were making good use of some shallow depressions to conceal themselves. When the buffalo were almost on top of the big cats, one lioness suddenly got to her feet. It seemed that she had sprung the ambush too soon, or even decided against an attack. But as she began to back away, and as the situation suddenly evolved from a suspense-laden stand-off into high drama, it became clear that she was the first of the lions to realise their predicament. The Selinda Pride was now trapped between the Channel and the advancing phalanx of buffalo bulls.

As all good predators know, the best form of defence is attack, and the lions surged forwards en masse. The buffalo responded in kind, and charged at the lions, presenting a solid wall of wickedly curved horns, each pair backed by several hundred kilos of beef and attitude.

Most successful hunts against buffalo involve the herd being fragmented, so that weaker animals can be identified and isolated. This herd however was wise to these tactics, and advanced at a rush, all together, leaving the lions with nowhere to go. The youth and inexperience of the Selinda Pride began to show - seven are sub-adults - and as one they turned tail and sprinted for the edge of the water, bounding and crashing into the shallows.

One female narrowly missed being hooked by the first buffalo, and the pride was now in disarray, swimming through the deeper water and not stopping until they reached the safety of the bank - directly in front of the parked game drive vehicles. The day and the island belonged to the buffalo, and the Selinda Pride was left to rue not just a missed meal, but lost face too.

It would be interesting to know what more experienced lions, such as those at Duba, might have made of this situation. However these young lions, who are still learning to hunt buffalo (newly present in this area since the channel has flowed again) lost their nerve and chose a cold swim over a too-hot fight.