In the aquatic environment of Africa, there is nothing more dangerous than the Nile crocodile. However, when on land, they are no longer at the top of the food chain, especially if there is a pride of hungry lions nearby. This is exactly what happened to a crocodile on the Zambian savannah.
The clip shared by wildlife photographer Muhammad Mulla on the Nature is Metal Instagram page captures a group of about a dozen female lions wandering around a dry field foraging for food.
About half of them are adults, the rest are young lions. They quickly focused on a crocodile lying basking in a large swamp. Several adult lions crept around the crocodile until one of them tapped the other’s snout with its paw.
Immediately afterwards, the crocodile jumped out of the swamp and pounced on the lion. However, thanks to the advantage in numbers, the female lions continued to surround, continuously hit and bite the crocodile all over the body while it rotated in circles to defend itself. A large lioness (wearing a tracking collar and apparently the leader) even bit the crocodile’s tail and dragged it across the field. It continued to wrestle with the crocodile, while the others in the herd circled around and created a distraction.
The process of defeating the crocodile took place very slowly. Finally, the lions pressed down on the crocodile so that the female wearing the bracelet delivered a fatal bite, rendering it motionless. When the clip ends, the crocodile is almost dead.
Mulla filmed this clip on the Busanga grasslands in Zambia, where Kafue National Park is located. Spanning nearly 36,260 square kilometers, this is the second largest national park in the world. The park has nearly 160 different species of mammals, including about 200 lions. The Kafue River that flows through the park is also famous for its giant Nile crocodiles.
According to Nature is Metal, cold-blooded crocodiles sometimes have to leave the river to warm up and bask in the sun on dry land. When they do, they are at the mercy of predators lurking nearby.