Kim Hathway, a consultant broker for Discovery, saw the entire scene play out in Etosha National Park.
Kim and her friends were the only people at the Aus waterhole on the day, having no luck with their sightings, they were just about to move on to their next location. Then, out of nothing but luck, a lioness stuck her head over the hill.
The pride of lions made their way toward the waterhole, filling the atmosphere with excitement. Kim had a feeling that they were ready for action.
A few minutes on, a large black rhino came galloping over the very same hill. Exhausted by the Namibian heat, it headed straight for the little that remained in the waterhole. It instantly plonked itself down, trying to cool off in the muddied water.
Kim couldn’t believe her luck. At the time the rhino couldn’t seem to care about the nearby predators, it was too set on getting a drink, but the lions were certainly aware of it.
The pride inched their way closer and closer, but the rhino didn’t let out much of a reaction. It was almost as if it couldn’t…
This is when Kim realized that something was wrong. The waterhole was quite deep and with the thick mud at the bottom, the rhino was simply stuck and became a sitting duck for the hungry pride of lions.
The lions eventually realized what was happening too and decided to make the most of their luck. Although they knew it was stuck, they were still fully aware of how dangerous a rhino can be. They approached with caution and used hunting tactics to try and finish the job.
Sadly, there wasn’t much that the immobile rhino could do, but all the commotion created by the lions amazingly gave the helpless rhino a lifeline! A passing herd of elephants saw what was happening and acted immediately. They charged at the pride as a unit, and the lions were forced to back off.
With the threat out of sight, most of the herd continued on their way, but one elephant wasn’t happy to leave the rhino at the mercy of the lions. It desperately tried to get the rhino out of the waterhole. Using its tusks and foot, it pushed and pushed, without any luck. At one point the ellie even looked like it was on top of the poor rhino.
This lasted for hours and it unfortunately came to the point where the elephant could simply do no more. It had to move on, even knowing that the lions were still around.
