The battle for survival takes place in the Masai Mara grasslands in Kenya, captured by the BBC’s crew. It was a male lion that had just reached adulthood, named Red. It begins to explore the territorial boundaries of the herd.
Red groped alone and accidentally went into hyena territory by mistake. What an unlucky day for Red, he fell into the sights of the pack. In fact, it is a common occurrence for hyenas to take down young or old lions together. In the African grasslands, hyenas are considered intelligent, adaptable and know how to cooperate with each other to protect their territory.
Simon Blakeney, one of the BBC’s crew members, recalls the moment when he witnessed firsthand the “unequal” battle.
“At first, Red tried to show himself as the dominant one by chasing each hyena. But at the peak, the male lion was overwhelmed by the herd of about 20. They ran around Red making it impossible for the animal to escape. out of the encirclement. Some attacked Red from behind. Really, Red was stuck in a life-or-death situation,” Simon described.
In overwhelming numbers, the hyenas seem to be more than enough to kill Red. Because no matter how strong, male lions cannot “snipe” each enemy alone. Red struggled to get out of the circle because the enemy moved very quickly, launching attacks in a flash.
The most difficult moment was when Red and Tattoo’s cousin heard the commotion. Tattoo rushed to save his “cousin”. Immediately, the situation changed in the blink of an eye. In fact, 2 lions can hardly beat a pack of 20 hyenas. But seeing the enemy “hard to eat”, the hyenas immediately dispersed to another place. On an unfortunate day, but Red escaped death momentarily. Tattoo saved his cousin’s life.
The hyena is an important species of most African ecosystems. They possess strong teeth, capable of tearing very tough meat. The hyena is considered one of the most greedy carnivores on land, able to kill large species such as zebras, wildebeest, and wild buffalo. Even the ability to run fast allows them to chase some birds at close range.
Hyenas often live in groups, often clashing with lions or leopards to steal their food. In these encounters, hyenas are rarely killed because of their reckless nature, sharp teeth and herd lifestyle, they often overwhelm their opponents in numbers.