After an ambitious chase, these lions singled out a giraffe in the middle of the road. The giraffe was so big that the lions decided to climb onto its legs and bite from underneath.
Candice and Joel are passionate about their trips to the bush. On their most recent trip to Kruger National Park, they decided to see what was happening on one of the quieter roads for the day, but what they were about to see was far from anything they could have imagined!
The family turned onto the H2-2 sand road and were on their way to Pretoriuskop Rest Camp when suddenly, two giraffes bolting through the bushes at full speed caught their attention. “Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a giraffe about 100 meters into the bush, running at full pace. Then I saw something chasing it!” – Joel explained.
It was hard to tell at the time, but four lions were feeling brave enough to try their luck with the giraffes, and they were chasing them right toward the road! “The second giraffe was running at a 45-degree angle toward the car, so I moved forward to try and intercept it. As soon as it crossed the road, the lion pounced, catching it by the legs.”
This giraffe was big, but with three lions wrapped around its legs, it wasn’t going anywhere quickly. The lions knew the giraffe would dart off if they let go to attempt climbing it, so they didn’t, for the most part. Instead, they tried a completely different tactic to collapse it…
“The fight went on for a while, with the giraffe desperately kicking and trying to get away, but the lions continued to tire it out by hanging onto its stomach and legs. One of the lions did try to go for the neck though! Then, the giraffe actually tried to run, and it was coming toward my car with the lions still under it!”
“I thought the giraffe was going to fall on us, so I reversed for about 150 meters. As I was reversing, the giraffe was still headed our way, and eventually, the lions managed to get it to fall right in front of us.” The poor giraffe collapsed so hard that its neck bent in all sorts of terrible ways, and its head slammed onto the hard ground.
The fall must have taken everything out of it, as there was hardly any fight left in the hopeless giraffe. “One of the lions went straight for the giraffe’s neck and finished the job! At this point, a lot of the cubs started to arrive. The females were so exhausted that they went to rest in the shaded bush, while the little ones began to eat.”
