Riesdah elaborates: “We had been following these two young lions for a few days. Guests who were staying at the Umlani Treehouse woke up to find the two lions outside the treehouse. This is how our ranger knew to start following them. We then spotted a herd of buffalo. Amongst them were two injured buffaloes slowing down the main herd.
The lions were aware of this and started tracking these weaker ones. We sat and waited patiently until the herd had passed by, followed by the lions. The lions were very diligent and waited until one of the injured buffaloes fell far enough behind to attack it (the herd was still around in the bush). They managed to tackle him down, but the nearby herd was not having any of it!
They did a 180-degree turn and came running around the corner to assist the hunted buffalo. The poor buffalo was rolled around like a toy car but the tactics of the herd paid off. They were able to chase the lions off their friend and get them to flee, literally “saving his bacon”.
I had wanted to see something interesting, but this was beyond my imagination. We were in total shock. I felt empathetic towards the buffalo, hoping that it would get away unscathed. This was the first time I have ever seen lions or any of the big 5 in real life, my first ever safari. I was told that I am very lucky to have witnessed something like this, as many go to the bush for years without seeing anything remotely close to this experience.
