This is the unbelievable story of a brave mother who broke two laws in Zimbabwe to prevent her baby from being eaten alive.
The scene was captured by photographer Kevi Dooley at Maa Pools National Park last month, and he said that the lionesses were hunting a warthog when a newborn elephant that had wandered out from its group came into view.
According to Mr. Dooley, the elephant calf started chasing the warthog while conscious of the nearby predators before being punched in the gut by the lions who tried to catch it.
This is the moment a courageous mother elephant in Maa Pools National Park, Zimbabwe, charged at two lionesses who were attempting to take her calf to the ground in order to prevent it from being eaten.
According to photographer Kevi Dooley, the lions were stalking a warthog when they noticed a baby elephat was playing with it and altered their aim because the elephat would provide more food.
Mr. Dooley explained that a young elephat could have provided food for the lion for days, whereas the warthog would be eliminated in a couple of hours.
“One of the ladies was very pregnant and in desperate need of food,” he claimed.
Elephates are a very challenging animal for lions to hunt, therefore ordinarily they would have had to develop a pride that specializes in taking down elephates instead of avoiding them and opting for smaller and less dangerous prey.
The lions easily pulled the elephant down, leapt on its back and forced it to the ground before putting all of their weight on it and starting to paralyze it.
The little elephalet began to scream loudly, and after a moment or two, a young elephalet emerged and attempted to save its older sibling.
But the lions wouldn’t give up their feast, and the hungry finally succumbed to dread. So, the mother elephant charged towards the lions that were attempting to kill the young elephant calf with all of her age and strength.
The mother elepharat screamed louder and hurled her daughter into the air as one of the lionesses quickly withdrew.
The two ladies, one of whom was very pregnant, quickly picked up the young elephant and were attempting to hold it when its family arrived and glared at them, according to Mr. Dooley.
“After the lions withdrew, the mother elephant raised the child and pointed out its trail.” She examined the infant and smelled her. The local shes are near by, as are the loos. The entire herd of six or more elephants attacked the sheep and drove the lions away.
“I knew a once-in-a-lifetime event was taking place right in front of me, but I was incredibly busy just trying to get the pictures,” the speaker said.
“At first, before the mother arrived, I was a little depressed, but I eventually accepted the lesson’s main meal. Once I observed the mother elephat charging the lions, I realized they lacked a choice.
Calvet Nkomo (45 years old), working at the Somalisa campsite, was lucky enough to capture a rare moment of a male lion’s lone hunt inside Hwange National Park.
The recorded video shows that the male lion was looking for food when he spotted the elephant drinking in the Ngweshla lagoon area in the national park. The young elephant was walking alone and there was no sign of any large herd of elephants nearby.
Initially, the cunning male lion did not rush to attack, but just quietly observed and approached the subject. About 10 minutes later, another lioness appeared, but she did not participate in the attack.
After drinking the water, the elephant turned to chase away the male lion. The cunning male lion took a step back, feigning fear. The young, inexperienced elephant thought it was over, so he let his guard down.
Immediately the male lion jumped up from behind, hugged the elephant’s back, and brought down the prey in an instant.
At this time, the new female lion appears to help the male lion handle the spoils. Then, the male lion called the whole herd to tear the prey.
Calvet Nkomo said that this marshy area is very dangerous because male lions frequent.
Records of lion hunts are rare, so it’s not known how often lions target such large prey. Maybe the baby elephant went too far away from its mother to fumble for food and fell victim to a hungry lion. This is uncommon but can happen in some cases, says Dr. Luke Hunter, president and chief conservation officer of Panthera.
Another possibility is that the elephant was injured, prompting the lioness to attack. “The young elephant appeared to be separated from the herd and looked as if he was injured before the attack. However, its condition is difficult to confirm because we only saw the lioness jump on her back,” Chevallier said.