When the buffalo saw the lions ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋing the baby elephant, they united and ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋed the lions, forcing them to leave and assisting the baby elephant in making a dramatic escape.
Jill Mathew filmed the action while he took visitors on a tour of the Klopperfontein Dam in the Sᴏᴜᴛʜ Aғʀɪᴄᴀn Kruger National Park, when a herd of buffalo ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋed a lion to save a young elephant.
The lions had been hiding and resting in a shrub ᴄʟᴏsᴇ to the lake before it dried up. The elephants gathered in the lake bottom around this time to take mud baths and got water to drink.
Following some time spent studying, the lions decided to ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋ the baby elephant that was not being shielded by its mother. The lions captured the elephant with ease due to their sheer size and incredible strength. The lions, however, were in serious trouble when they were unable to ᴋɪʟʟ their prey.
In particular, the buffalo herd rushed to the rescue as soon as they saw the lion ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋing the baby elephant. The lions had to flee before the buffalo herd’s vicious ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋ. This gave the baby elephant a chance to pull off a daring escape from certain ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ.