Lions hunt primarily at night, as the cover of darkness makes it easier for them to observe and chase their prey without fear of being seen. The act of lions sitting and observing their prey during the day, usually before nightfall, is actually quite common. However, they usually don’t strike until after dusk.
Unfortunately for this buffalo, the lions didn’t wait until nightfall to attack. A video from a private game reserve in Savannah shows just how much pride lions take in hunting their prey.
Lions rely more on their eyesight than anything else to help them hunt. Researchers have seen people crawling under vegetation, sometimes poking their heads above it to keep an eye out for creatures they might be stalking. But occasionally they inadvertently expose themselves in doing so.
Weighing nearly 2,000 pounds and with huge, powerful horns, you’d think buffalo bulls would have an edge over lions; they do. What they don’t have is a whole defense of pride.
©Peter Betts/Shutterstock.com
Another significant disadvantage of lions compared to other predators is their lack of speed, which is also compensated by cooperative hunting. Of course, these mighty beasts aren’t slow by human standards at all; their top speed is around miles per hour, but they can only eke out a minute or so.
In fact, they almost never chase prey beyond 300 feet. Working together, they can catch prey that would be too fast or cunning for them alone.
outsmart prey
Lions also benefit from cooperative hunting in another way, when they kill an animal that is too large for them to eat alone. Lion prides can eat food as a whole without worrying about storing or protecting it, which increases the amount of food available to more mouths at the same time.
Believe it or not, prides of lions usually only deal with one bull. The one in this video is not alone, he and another beast hiding in the bushes are trying to escape for their lives. They try to scare off the lions with their powerful horns, but soon realize they are outnumbered.
A commentary on the video shows how evolution helped today’s top predators. It says, “Looking at these lions, I can probably imagine how saber-toothed cats hunted. As far as I know, they also hunt in packs like modern lions, so they can kill almost anyone, from bison to young Mammoth.”
Check out the incredible footage below!
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I am broadly interested in how human activities influence the ability of wildlife to persist in the modified environments that we create.
Specifically, my research investigates how the configuration and composition of landscapes influence the movement and population dynamics of forest birds. Both natural and human-derived fragmenting of habitat can influence where birds settle, how they access the resources they need to survive and reproduce, and these factors in turn affect population demographics. Most recently, I have been studying the ability of individuals to move through and utilize forested areas which have been modified through timber harvest as they seek out resources for the breeding and postfledging phases. As well I am working in collaboration with Parks Canada scientists to examine in the influence of high density moose populations on forest bird communities in Gros Morne National Park. Many of my projects are conducted in collaboration or consultation with representatives of industry and government agencies, seeking to improve the management and sustainability of natural resource extraction.
