While still learning to walk, a new-born giraffe must fight for its life from a hungry lioness with only the protection of its mother! At a mere age of 10 hours-old, this giraffe escapes the lioness, but the ending is something you’d never expect!
This unbelievable sighting was captured by 30-year-old, Wildlife photographer and owner of Escape Safari Co, Don Heyneke and by safari consultant Rustom Framjee, founder of Safarinut, while on safari in Olare Motorogi Conservancy, Masai Mara, Kenya.
Don tells LatestSightings.com the story: “A female giraffe gave birth to a baby calf. 30 minutes after being born, the giraffes are already able to walk with only minimal stumbling and, within 10 hours, they are able to run. Unfortunately for this young calf, a hungry lioness and hyena showed interest in the calf right after it was born.”
“The interested lioness and hyena were trailing the giraffe and her calf, but the hyenas quickly lost interest, leaving only the lioness who was almost herding the herd for over 6kms (4 miles). The newborn calf was knocked over several times by its mother while trying to escape the lioness.”
“After walking 6kms, the giraffe and her baby, who at this point had not even had a sip of milk in its life yet, reach a dead-end caused by a riverbed. The lioness creeps up to them, thinking this is the finale to an already intense series.”
“The mother tried to protect her calf from the lioness and panicked – accidentally bumping the new-born down a cliff. The new-born calf was now stuck in the riverbed, the mother went outside the riverbed and tried to coax the young calf out but it was too weak to climb the bank.”
“The calf lay down and at this point stood no chance against the apex predator who took the opportunity to grab the calf and carry it towards the water.”
“The mother did her best to protect her new-born calf and chased the lioness away multiple times and at this point, we thought the calf was 100% dead. To everyone’s surprise, it stood up but not for very long as the calf ended up finding safety in the river where it fell asleep from exhaustion. The baby giraffe, with a fight for survival like no one has ever seen before, drowned.”
Despite being larger and having a kick like heaven, the giraffe still died tragically when faced with two adept predatory lions.
Photographer Michael Cohen captured two male lions using all their hunting skills to knock down giraffes many times larger than them in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier park in South Africa, Mirror yesterday reported.
The lions risk their lives climbing onto the back of their prey to bite them, sometimes even being trampled by the giraffe’s hooves. However, despite the giraffe’s fierce resistance, the hunt ended with the victory belonging to the two lions when their prey was completely defeated.
According to Cohen, the average male lion weighs over 180 kg. Giraffes weigh 6 times that amount and can deliver powerful kicks. Their height alone is enough to make predators wary.
Giraffe trying to escape. It only stopped once to look back. The lions were still at least 182 meters away from the giraffe, they did not chase quickly but ran rather leisurely. But when the distance receded to only about 68 meters, the dark-maned lion suddenly sprinted. It quickly shortens the distance and blocks the front of its prey. The giraffe immediately swings its kicking leg towards the enemy’s head. However, its attempt failed because the male lion did not skilfully jump to the right.
While the lion turned around, the giraffe used its hind legs to slam the enemy’s back, causing the lion to wince in pain. Cohen speculates the giraffe will kill or seriously injure the lion. But it seems to avoid stepping on lions, perhaps because it wants to preserve its paws or because it lacks a hunting instinct. Thanks to this, the lion has a chance to escape danger.
By this time, both the lion and the giraffe were tired. The lion was bruised after the first attack, and the giraffe panicked and tried to save its life. It did not take its eyes off the lion, continuing to threaten the enemy with another kick. Perhaps it is too tired to continue running and countering the lion is the best way to win the battle for survival.
“Forty minutes later, a second lion appeared, slowly approaching the target from behind the low grass. The first lion probably saw its fellow because it stood up as if it wanted to distract the attention of others. The giraffe, though, probably sensed danger because as soon as the light-maned lion began to charge, the giraffe kicked back with its hind legs but missed the target. jumps through the air and clings to the butt of the prey. However, it also received the giraffe’s kick like its peers and tumbled to the ground,” Cohen said.
Upon closer inspection, Cohen noticed that the deer’s front hoof appeared to be deformed. It is possible that this defect slowed the giraffe’s escape speed and attracted the attention of the lions.
The two lions circled around the giraffe and joined forces to attack the back of its body. One jumps on the deer’s butt while the other clings to its hind legs. The weight of the two lions made the giraffe miserable. Immediately, the dark mane lion attacked the abdomen of the prey and its friend did not miss the opportunity to bite the mouth and nostrils to suffocate the giraffe. The deer died after only a few minutes.
The two lions split the deer carcass and enjoyed a hearty meal. After many times of eating, they leave satisfied, ending the hunt successfully but also full of danger.