For most animals, life in nature is a fight for survival from the first breath to the last one. And it doesn't matter if you're the often-proclaimed "King of the Jungle," as this footage from the Sabi Sands Game Reserve in South Africa proves. In this part of the world, the only animal that might be more dangerous than a lion is the cape buffalo. In this video clip shared by the Latest Sightings YouTube channel, an older, injured lion has found himself cut off from the rest of his pride in the middle of a herd of these intimidating animals. The lion tries to keep a low profile and stays close to the ground, but the buffalo know he's there. And they don't like it.
Several of the buffalo hook their horns under the lion's body and toss him around without mercy. There is no doubt these buffalo want to kill this lion, and they come very close to doing it. If big cats have nine lives, it looks like this guy used up several of them in this escape.
According to the video's description, this lion got trapped in this predicament when the pride attempted to hunt the buffalo. The older male got cut off and had no choice but to try and wait for rescue, as it couldn't escape with the others due to a severe limp that he has allegedly had for at least two years. It's safe to say this old guy is a true fighter!
This footage only covers about two minutes of the encounter, but the description says the buffalo bullied this lion for 15 minutes before the rest of the pride was able to mount a rescue. The lion escaped, albeit with some rather serious injuries. It's probably likely he won't survive long after this encounter.
As hard as this sort of thing is to watch, it's a good reminder that nature is rarely fair. This old lion has likely lived a long, full life, but time is eventually going to catch up to him, and that's just the way things go in nature.
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