Tag: MalaMala

Watch: Tiny antelope evade predators in ‘a real cliffhanger’

Tourists at a game reserve in South Africa witnessed a tense confrontation this week between wild dogs and klipspringers, which are a type of dwarf antelope.

Tourists at a wilderness reserve in South Africa witnessed a tense confrontation this week between wild dogs and klipspringers, which are a type of dwarf antelope.

The accompanying footage, shared to Facebook by MalaMala Game Reserve, shows several dogs surrounding three klipspringers that had positioned themselves just out of harm’s way on a nearly sheer rock face.

“This was a real ‘cliffhanger’ of a sighting but these klipspringers had played the game before,” MalaMala wrote. “They remained calm and stuck to their game plan – despite coming within inches of death.”

Viewers will note how still the klipspringers remain as one dog approaches within sniffing range of the closest klipspringer. The dog repeatedly backs off for fear of falling.

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It was not clear how long this confrontation lasted but the klipspringers were said to have survived.

Klipspringers, which weigh between 20 and 40 pounds, are incredibly nimble and swift, and spend most of their lives in rock formations known as kopjes.

They “spring” from rock to rock as they browse edible vegetation, but are capable of standing motionless, even on sheer faces, for hours.

Watch: Lions unsure what to make of brave little crab

Several young lions encountered a freshwater crab recently in South Africa and were unsure what to make of the feisty little crustacean.

Several young lions encountered a freshwater crab recently in South Africa and seemed unsure how to react to the feisty little crustacean.

The accompanying footage, captured in MalaMala Game Reserve, shows the four-inch crab taking a defensive stand, pincers raised, when approached by the first young lion.

Rather than risk being pinched, the lion simply lies down and watches the crab as it tries to cross to a nearby river bank – an action typically carried out at night.

But another sub-adult lion begins to stalk the crab, and soon it’s surrounded.

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But the lions seem more curious than predatory – after all, the crab is snapping its pincers and lions have soft noses. Ultimately, the crab retreats safely into its burrow.

The unusual encounter was featured by Latest Sighings with a video uploaded to Facebook, and a longer version to YouTube.

In a blog post describing the encounter as “Clawsome,” Latest Sightings explained that the lions are part of the Kambula pride and the footage was captured by rangers Ruggiero Barreto, 30, and Robyn Sewell, 27.

One of the rangers was quoted:

“We left the camp at sunrise with the hope of finding lions and were lucky enough to find a pride at a riverbank. They were sheltering from the wind in the Mlowathi Riverbed and were sleeping so we thought we would drive on and look back a little later.

“But suddenly we noticed one of the sub-adults get up and start staring at something and at first we thought it was a scorpion but it was a crab….

“The poor little fella was trying to make it to the riverbank where its burrow was when more lions came over to check it out until there were five of them. The crab kept its claws up at the lions as it backed up until it made the bank and disappeared into a burrow and then the young lions lost interest.

“Not many betting people would have given the crab good odds on making it across the river past a pride of lions but this little fella was up for it.”

–Images courtesy of LatestSightings.com