Readers’ wildlife photos

Today’s photos depict lions killing a buffalo in Botswana, and if you don’t like to see pictures of killing, you may want to skip this. However, this is how nature works: lions, after all, are not vegans.  These photos come from David Hughes, who has also supplied the narrative, and you can enlarge them by clicking on them.

One of the great things about going on safari is that you never know what you’re going to see. Every day brings something new, whether it’s a rare animal or bird, a memorable close encounter, or an unexpected interaction between species. This set of photos was taken one late afternoon in the Moremi Game Reserve, on the penultimate day of our tour. We’d just enjoyed a fantastic leopard sighting, and we moved on convinced that this must be the highlight of the day. However, Moremi had a lot more in store for us….

Our guide and driver, Vincent, spotted a group of lions advancing across an expanse of tall grass. Three lionesses came first….

…followed by a big male. The lions were all staring intently in the same direction, obviously focused on something up ahead. As an experienced guide I think Vincent probably had an inkling of what might be about to happen and he drove on to find out what the lions were interested in:

The focus of the lions’ attention – a Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer) bull, seen here taking to its heels as it realized it had become a target. The next few photos are a bit chaotic. Events moved very quickly, our vehicle was often moving to keep up with the action, and I couldn’t always get a clear shot with my camera, but I hope they give a flavour of the unfolding drama:

As the buffalo turned to flee, the lions also picked up speed. The pursuit took the animals very close to a tourist campsite, which left the camp staff scrambling to zip themselves into their tents, lest they be trampled or end up on the lions’ menu. Fortunately buffalo and lions carried on by, but if the events shown in the following photos had taken place in the middle of the camp, the people in the tents would have had a long and uncomfortable night!:

Two lionesses (one in front, one behind) have the bull cornered:

As one lioness closes in from behind, the bull spins round to defend himself:

With reinforcements arriving, a lioness launches herself onto the bull’s hindquarters:

All four lions work together to wrestle the buffalo to the ground:

The male lion applied a killing bite, clamping his jaws around the bull’s muzzle. Once he’d gained a firm grip, the three lionesses left him to it and departed the scene:

The male held his grip for about ten minutes, killing the bull by suffocation:

He gave a final bite to the throat just to make sure:

By the time the male had finished the job, the lionesses had returned with seven cubs in tow:

His work done, the male lion settled down for a well-earned rest, leaving the buffalo to the females and cubs:

You’re not allowed to drive in the Moremi Game Reserve after 6 PM and the clock was ticking, so we had to leave the scene at this point and head back to our camp, leaving the lions to their feast:

When we returned to the kill site the next morning the lions had consumed most of the buffalo. Three cubs were still picking at the carcass, with one lioness nearby watching over them:

I’ve been on safari several times now, and have had some memorable wildlife encounters, but this was certainly the most exciting. Before setting off on this trip I knew that we were certain to encounter lions, and had a good chance of seeing them on a kill, but I never expected to witness a life-and-death drama from beginning to end. After this experience one thing that struck me is how precarious life is for all these wild animals. Even something as huge and powerful as a bull buffalo can be converted into cat food in the space of ten minutes. This time the lions came away unscathed, but a well-aimed hoof or horn could easily have inflicted a fatal injury on one of them, and perhaps will on some future occasion. From the safety of our vehicle it was also sobering to reflect that for hundreds of thousands of years this was the day-to-day reality for our distant ancestors living in this environment – with no vehicles or tents to shelter in.