Elephant fights off a lioness after it sinks its claws into it

Elephant fights off a lioness after it sinks its claws into the animal and tries to bring it down single handed

  • The creatures’ battle took place in the heart of the Hwange National Park 
  • Samuel Chevallier, 28, filmed the two animals while on safari in Zimbabwe
  • The lioness is believed to have been trying to secure a meal for her cubs  

A young elephant managed to fight off a hungry lioness in a valiant fight witnessed by a group on safari in the heart of the Hwange National Park, in Zimbabwe. 

Samuel Chevallier, 28, filmed the fierce battle while on a recent African Bush Camps Safari in the land-locked African nation. 

He said after an early morning wake-up call the safari group had set off from the Somalisa camp, in Hwange, towards the area where a lion pride had been spotted the evening before. 

‘The early morning light broke and we were happy to find they were still resting in the same place,’ he said. 

A close-up image of the two animals shows the lion with its claws digging into the elephant’s thick skin as it tries to also get its teeth in

The filmmaker and safari guide, who is part of a film production company called Rewild, said they looked on as a cluster of lion cubs played with each other. 

Not long after the group noticed the mother begin to get restless as she hustled her cubs through the bush, before going off alone into the thicket.  

Chevallier said at first all they heard was the ‘screeching’ of the elephant, before they caught sight of the epic battle between the two animals. 

What followed next could only be described as mother nature at her best depicting a valiant fight in which prey successfully takes on predator and manages to live another day.  

The group on safari heard the elephant squeal before the got close enough to see the two creatures fighting

The lioness tries to get her claws and teeth into the elephant as it struggles to break free from the feline predator

The video shows the mother lioness has launched herself at the young elephant, digging her claws into the elephant’s thick skin and chomping at its head – in what’s thought to be an attempt to secure a meal for her cubs. 

But the elephant, will not to be defeated easily. It rears its head and trumpets as it attempts to break free. 

The elephant continues to struggle, visibly distressed as the large feline growls fiercely and intensifies her attempts to bring the elephant down. 

The elephant is not defeated easily. It can be seen rearing its head and trumpeting as it breaks free from the lioness’ strong grasp

The lioness’ cubs can not be seen in the video, but were looking on from the thicket as their mother fought to vanquish her prey

But, on this day, it’s the elephant that triumphs. After repeated attempts to break free it can be seen throwing off the lioness who quickly scampers back into the bush where her cubs are playing. 

Chevallier said capturing the fight between the two beasts while the adrenaline was pumping was ‘intense’. 

‘It’s never easy hearing the sound of a screeching animal fighting to survive,’ he said.  

‘We were slightly relieved to see the young elephant escaping the grips of the lioness. 

 ‘Although, witnessing the hunger of the cubs as they waited for their mother to bring home the meal – [offered] a contradiction of emotion that I had not quite felt before.’

Despite the lioness’ repeated attempts to pin the elephant to the ground, it’s the elephant that wins this round as it finally sends the feline scampering off back to her waiting cubs

He said while the lioness was off hunting, the cubs had lain in the tall grass looking on. 

‘After an unsuccessful attack, the mother came to collect the cubs and headed away into the morning – luckily, unscathed from the encounter.’ 

Chevallier said witnessing such an act of nature was ‘extremely rare’.   

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