Three lions attempted to cross a river at the Selinda Reserve spillway in Botswana with a fourth lion hanging back on the bank, apparently waiting to see if it was safe to cross.
As it turned out, it wasn’t.
A hippo immediately charged the trio and attacked one of the lions in the water in an apparent show of strength and territorial dominance.
Field Guide Parks from the Great Plains Conservation shared the video with Latest Sightings, calling it a sighting of a lifetime.
“It was exciting at the beginning, as it’s always great to see animals, especially cats crossing the river,” Parks told Latest Sightings. “When the hippo started chasing the lions, our excitement grew as I thought it would stop. I was very sad and worried that one of the lions were going to be killed by the hippo! Especially with how close and serious the charge was.
“It wasn’t a great feeling at all. The coalition got separated with two lions on our side and the remaining two on the other side. They had to take a long walk around the pool and used a shallower crossing to get to their partners. Luckily, none of the lions were severely injured.”
Parks called it a “lifetime experience,” saying “I have been working in the business for over 10 years and this was a first for me…I consider myself super lucky to have seen a sighting like this in real life.”
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