Dramatic footage shows a dominant male leopard bolting in to end a fight between a female leopard and her adult daughter.
A fierce battle between leopards, apparently a mother and adult daughter, was forcefully declared over recently by a third leopard that bolted in to separate the combatants.
“The mother entered the daughter’s territory in pursuit of the area’s dominant male, who at the time was with the daughter. Daughter was not happy about that as you can see.”
The wild confrontation played out in front of tourists in Sabi Sands Nature Reserve in South Africa. The footage, best viewed with audio, shows the male leopard knocking both female leopards into apparent submission.
Lions have an amazing ability to blend in with the terrain of the African savanna. This trait allows them to easily sneak up on prey.
Editor’s note: A version of this post was first published on Aug. 8, 2023.
Lions possess the ability to blend in with the dry, low-lying grasses of the African savanna, a trait that allows them to easily sneak up on prey.
In this case, however, tourists at Kruger National Park in South Africa managed to spot a lone lion because it was walking through the grass.
“Whilst driving along slowly, we noticed a movement that caught our eye as she [the lion] was walking along through the grass,” Peter Hall explained to USA Today/For The Win Outdoors.
“We stopped there and I took that photo once she had stopped walking for a while and was just sitting there watching us. With a long lens, I could get a decent pic. She was at least 50 meters [165 feet] away. But I liked the way she blended so perfectly into the surrounding landscape of the Central Kruger Park, near Tshokwane.”
The footage might make your skin crawl, but hornbills and other birds initiate this behavior as sort of a spa treatment.
A guide for a safari lodge in South Africa has captured extraordinary footage showing a large hornbill perched atop an ant hill while allowing the insencts to swarm over its body.
Yes, the accompanying footage might make your skin crawl. But this behavior is initiated by certain birds as sort of a spa treatment.
“This is very rarely seen but guide Zaan Snaps had an eagle eye this day and spotted a hornbill practicing a behaviour called anting!” Umkumbe Bush Lodge exclaimed Wednesday via Instagram. “This is when birds purposely sit atop an ants nest and allow ants to crawl all over and this assists with cleaning the bird of parasites.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/DCluqx2KXt3/
The lodge, which shared the footage, jokingly described the event as “next-level dust bathing.”
The lodge also explained: “Ants secrete formic acid as a form of deterring predators but some birds absolutely love it.
“It is believed that passive anting could have a few benefits: 1. Parasite control, 2. Feather maintenance, 3. Stimulation of feather growth, 4. Self Stimulation.”
Besides “passive anting,” certain birds practice “active anting,” during which birds pick up ants with their bills and rub them against their feathers.
From Britannica: “A great deal of controversy has existed over the function of anting. Some authorities have theorized that it is a form of self-stimulation, but most ornithologists conclude that anting is a type of feather maintenance.
“Formic acid and other ant fluids are known to be insecticidal; dressing the feathers with ants would thus kill or deter avian parasites, such as lice and mites.”
Footage shows the elephant using its powerful trunk to compress and spray water as a fine mist directed toward tourists.
A bull elephant in South Africa’s MalaMala Game Reserve used its powerful trunk recently to compress and spray water as a fine mist directed toward safari guests.
“This bull tricks us with a water show!” Ranger Gabriel Harmer exclaimed via Instagram. “It was absolutely amazing! A light mist spray on a warm afternoon drive. What better way to cool down than to get water sprayed on you by an Ellie!”
Harmer’s footage is posted below and best viewed with audio.
Footage from South Africa shows an elephant’s comical reaction after finding itself face to face with a much smaller rhinoceros.
Clearly, elephants do not appreciate surprise encounters involving other large animals. But do they have to be so dramatic?
The accompanying footage, shared Wednesday by South Africa’s MalaMala Game Reserve, shows an elephant reacting loudly and frightfully after coming face to face with a rhinoceros.
“An elephant being a bit of a drama queen,” MalaMala joked via X.
Social media footage showing a motorist nudging a lion with his front bumper in Kruger National Park prompted a quick investigation.
A motorist who bumped a lion with his vehicle over the weekend, seemingly to clear the animal from a road in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, has apparently been disciplined.
A day earlier, after viewing the accompanying footage, SanParks promised the incident would be “dealt with at the highest level.”
The agency, however, has not provided details about the individual or possible disciplinary measures.
The footage, shared by Lion Lovers, shows the seemingly impatient motorist rolling into the startled lion from behind.
What a selfish inconsiderate idiot!!@SANParksKNP have you seen this, this person should not be allowed in any national park, no respect shown, its a disgrace people behave like this, number plate is visible
Happened on the H1-4 between Satara and Olifants
Lion Lovers tagged SanParks in its post – the vehicle’s license plate is visible in the footage – and several in the comments thread demanded that the motorist be banned from the park.
“Disgusting behavior,” one follower complained.
“Hard to watch,” another stated.
The incident occurred during a traffic jam caused by lions lounging on a highway. Lion jams typically attract tourists eager to view and photograph the animals, but most do so respectfully.
Kruger National Park is billed as the “flagship of the South African National Parks” and tourists are allowed on its roads as long as they remain in their vehicles.
Animals always have the right of way and motorists are required to exercise extreme caution. Any action that alters an animal’s behavior – such as bumping it with a vehicle – can be considered illegal harassment.
Footage shows the young woman expressing awe and disbelief as the male lion passes just yards from her open-air vehicle.
How would you react if you were on a photo safari and witnessed an adult male lion approaching within yards of your open-air vehicle?
The accompanying footage, shared Thursday by Mala Mala Game Reserve, shows a young woman expressing awe and disbelief as a lion strolled almost within touching distance.
Her reaction is so understandably perfect that Mala Mala required no description other than to state: “One of the many reasons we do what we do.”
Mala Mala is a private reserve that shares an unfenced border with world-famous Kruger National Park. Besides lions, guests might encounter other iconic large animals such as elephants, leopards, rhinos and buffaloes.
Footage from South Africa shows the bull elephant stooping onto its belly and crawling beneath the wire to access a watering hole.
An elephant in South Africa’s Addo Elephant National Park has discovered that to access water protected by an electrified fence, one has to think like a leopard.
The accompanying footage shows the bull elephant garnering laughter and admiration while stooping onto its belly and advancing carefully beneath the lowest strand of wire.
“The lowest strand of wire is about 2 meters off the ground, with more strands above that,” Sri Lanka Elephant, which shared the footage last month, explained via Facebook.
“It allows smaller animals, buffalo, kudu, etc., to pass underneath and get to the water, and has been effective in keeping most of the elephants out. But then this bull worked out how to beat the system!”
Elephants are kept from the watering hole because the massive pachyderms can be destructive and prevent smaller mammals from reaching the water.
Sri Lanka Elephant, which did not provide video credit, suggested that the elephant was exhibiting its version of a “leopard crawl.”
Footage shows several lions, led by a famous one-eyed dominant male, viciously turn against a lion from another pride.
Safari guests observing lions at an elephant carcass over the weekend were “stunned” to witness the pride turning ferociously against an interloper.
The accompanying footage, captured in South Africa’s Thornybush Nature Reserve, shows the lions appearing content alongside the carcass after their feast.
But one lion, front and center at the carcass, was from a rival pride and that spelled trouble.
“The young Avoca Male casually walked into the Monwana Pride and fed with them on an elephant carcass (as if he was part of the pride),” photographer Almero Klingenberg, who captured the footage, explained via Instagram. “A few minutes later, Mapoza showed up and together with his sons, they chased the intruder away.”
That’s understating matters based on the graphic footage.
Cameron Scott, owner of Royal Ngala Safaris, shared the footage and stated that guests were “stunned” by the “chaos” that unfolded.
Scott continued: “The young Avoca male Lion joins the Monwana pride on an Elephant carcass and is immediately disciplined and chased off by my favorite blue-eyed Mapoza and his boys!
“He’s lucky to escape alive.”
Mapoza is a large dominant male lion who’s blind in his right eye, which is blueish-gray in color. Thornybush Nature Reserve refers to Mapoza as “The Lion With One Eye.”
Dramatic footage shows the precise moment that an African buffalo rushed in to save another buffalo from a lion attack.
Dramatic footage shared Thursday shows the compelling moment that an African buffalo rushed in to save another buffalo from a savage lion attack.
As viewers can see, the male lion has one buffalo by the throat in what appears to be a death grip until another buffalo rushes in to scatter the pride and force the male lion to release its grip and flee.
As the hero buffalo enters frame, a spotlight, presumably from a safari vehicle, shines on the rescue and both buffaloes. The massive bovines remain stationary and perhaps stunned briefly before wandering off.
The footage was shared by Latest Sightings, which features content captured in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, and credited to Sara Zegut.
The video description: “Buffalo risks it all to save friend from lion’s death grip!”
