A brave buffalo proved his loyalty to his herd when he charged into a pride of lions after seeing one of his friends injured and surrounded by hungry predators at a game reserve in South Africa.
The buffalo used all of its strength to gore one of the startled lions with its sharp horns, launching the breathless animal into the air with ease as the other lions scattered.
Unfortunately, despite the buffalo’s heroics, his friend was too injured to escape and was attacked by several other lions, who rushed to the scene after hearing the commotion.
Sorrowful: The buffalo fights its way through the lions in a desperate attempt to rescue its mortally wounded friend.Brute force – Stunned lion lies in sand after being impaled by angry buffalo in South Africa The wounded buffalo can be seen being pinned down by the pride of lions and in an attempt to rescue its wounded friend another buffalo charged into the lions. One of the lions rushed at the buffalo in an attempt to bring it down, but the lion was struck by the angry buffalo, impaled on its horn, and thrown into the air. As the lion crashed to the ground, it seemed the buffalo might have secured the opportunity for a quick getaway, but the lion pride was soon joined by two adult male lions. The lion reinforcements jumped on the buffalo’s back and sank their teeth into it, leading to a grisly end for the buffalo. Brazilian photographer Mariangela Matarazzo Lee, 54, captured the dramatic scenes during a safari with her family and friends in the Mala Mala Game Reserve in South Africa.Advancing for the kill: The pride of lions quickly surrounded the fighting buffalo and attacked it with their claws and sharp teeth.Take Down: As the lion crashed to the ground, it looked like the buffalo might have secured the opportunity for a quick getaway, but the lion pride was soon joined by two adult male lions.Stunning: Brazilian photographer Mariangela Matarazzo Lee, 54, captured the dramatic scenes while on safari with her family and friends in the Mala Mala Game Reserve in South Africa. ‘It was quite a surprise, our ranger saw a couple of cars on the other side of the river. Everyone was parked there with their binoculars trying to get a look at something going on on our side of the bank,” he said. “When we arrived there were 12 young lions from the same pride that had brought down a bull and were trying to kill it. Right next to them were a dozen other buffalo watching. Suddenly, one of them decided to rescue his wounded friend who was lying in the middle of the lions,” he recalled. The buffalo came running towards the lions and one of the males tried to tackle the buffalo. It was then that it got caught on the horn and the buffalo swung it around several times until it was knocked over and it landed terribly on the ground.
“Just when we thought it was all over, two huge adult lions arrived with two females from another pride who were roaring a lot,” he said.
All the youngsters ran away and the wounded buffalo stood up trying to escape, but it was badly hurt and very tired.
‘One of the lions stood in front of him while the other walked around the buffalo and jumped on top of it and brought it down again.
