According to wildlife photographer Kevin Dooley, who photographed the sᴄᴇɴᴇs at Mana Pools National Park last month, the lionesses were ʜᴜɴᴛing a warthog when a newborn elephant that had strayed from its group appeared. Unaware of the predators lying nearby, the elephant calf started following the warthog before being tackled to the ground by lions who attempted to ᴋɪʟʟ it.
Mr. Dooley said that whereas the warthog would be consumed in a couple of hours, a baby elephant could provide food for the lions for several days. One of the lionesses was starving and pregnant.
Lions must typically have grown up in a pride that specializes in ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋing elephants since they are a very challenging animal to ᴋɪʟʟ; otherwise, they would avoid them and seek out smaller, less ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs food.
The lions easily defeated the elephant by leaping on its back and pushing it to the ground. They then put all of their weight on the elephant and started to immobilize it. The mother elephant soon arrived, and she charged at the lions that were ferociously attempting to ᴋɪʟʟ the elephant calf with all of her fury and strength.
One of the lionesses rapidly escaped and the mother elephant yelled angrily, flung dust into the air. The second lioness gripped the mother elephant tightly while snarling and growling at her. But the elephant persisted, and the lion eventually gave up. She was no match for an enraged adult elephant, the lion realized.
The mother elephant used its trunk to lift the youngster up after the lions left. She examined the infant and smelled her. The nearby shrubs were where the lions fled to. The lions fled as the entire herd of six or seven elephants charged the bushes.