The odds are massively against the flappy-eared fighter in this sunset showdown as he is covered by the ravenous predators
The junior jumbo takes to water to face off against his 14 predators
A pride of 14 hungry lions surround a baby elephant as they prepare for a fight that is far from fair.The battle - captured on film by tourists in the South Luangwa National Park, Zambia - shows the one-year-old beast surrounded by the pack of predators near a watering hole.
As the lions viciously set about the youngster - who was separated from its herd - they begin taking it in turns to leap on its back and sink their teeth into its backside and legs.Things look grim for the junior jumbo as the lions move in for the kill with three then four clinging to his torso as he looks for an escape route.But, with the walls closing and time running out, the elephant heads for the water in a desperate bid to shrug off the lions.And after a lengthy battle, the youngster defies all the odds to emerge unscathed.
The group of tourists had been travelling from Norman Carr Safaris Chinzombo Camp when they stumbled across the sunset showdown.Safari guide, Innocent, who works for Norman Carr Safaris and was driving the Jeep, said: "In many years I have been a safari guide in Zambia at the South Luangwa, never have I seen anything like this.
"We were all so worried the elephant would be killed right before us. What a fighter. It fought off all 14 lions - incredible."
The tourists who witnessed the incredible scrap - Jesse Nash, Dan Christoffel, Steve Baker and Nina Krakowski - have since named the elephant 'Hercules'.
The fight is almost as an epic as a natural showdown we reported on last month, when two black bears slugged it out in the street in an amazing viral video.
The moment two lions pursued an antelope from the bushes into a road at a game reserve in South Africa was captured on camera by British tourist, Carolyn Dunford. And amazingly, the tourists who were passing through in a convoy when the incident happened wound down their car windows to watch the spectacle.
This is surprising to say the least because just recently, a tourist was attacked and killed when a lion jumped into her car from her open car window at a Games Reserve. Guess these ones didn’t hear that story. Anyway, the lions did kill the Antelope. See the dramatic photos after the cut…
Miss Dunford, a biology graduate from Romsey, Hampshire, was taking an early morning drive through the park - one of the largest game reserves in Africa - when she came across the rare scene and pulled out her camera.The amateur photographer told MailOnline: 'I think I had been driving for about 45 minutes and at about 7.45am, I saw a group of cars crawling along.'I pulled up with them and there were the two lions walking towards me.
'One of them saw the kudu in the bushes and I saw the lion crouch.'She described seeing the terrified kudu bolt towards the cars, losing its balance in the panic and falling.
This is the moment a warthog stepped into the path of a hungry lion and then became its prey.The incredible pictures show the warthog step into the lion's den, but it was only ever going to end one way, as the predator then leaps out with brute force to capture the animal. The lion then goes on to devour the wild pig, proving his status as top of the animal food chain.
The unsuspecting warthog steps into the path of an oncoming lion at the Addo Elephant Park in South Africa
The lion leaps out on to the warthog with brute force and pounces on its prey
The warthog tries to make a break for freedom but the lion is hot on its heels trying to recapture it
'The poor unsuspecting warthog did not spot the lions at all and she disappeared behind a bush where a lion was lying, and it was taken by surprise.Dr Jonker revealed the warthog first had a lucky escape after it accidentally woke a sleeping lioness and startled her so she didn't attack.But she couldn't believe her eyes when the same warthog went back into the lion's den.She added: After the warthog escaped, I thought the action was over. But the warthog went back in a circle and went back on the same path as before, straight back into the lions.
The lion asserts his authority as top of the food chain as he takes a bite of the warthog who was unable to escape
The lion digs his teeth into the warthog he has just killed as he is joined by a lioness
'By this time, a male lion had woken up and was sat up straight trying to see what the commotion was.'He saw the warthog coming and went straight into the attack position. This was when I had my camera poised as I knew this time something was going to happen.'At one stage there was only this big dust cloud and I could not see what was happening.
This is a real between the rhino and lions. Lions are in their way on search of food where they meet with a rhino. Both of the animals fear each other. Lions are hungry where they want to make rhino their feast. Rhino is much stronger than all these lions. Lions are small which makes it possible to hind.
The fight of lions versus rhino is endless as lions have special tactics when attacking. Lions are trying to trap the rhino inside the water pod and in muddy region. They are successive but rhino is stronger where it exits itself. Despite the numbers of lion attacking the rhino, they did not succeed.
Rhino vs Male Lion Fight. Rhino attacks male lion, and lionesses.
The lions versus rhino fight depend on each animal’s tactic to attack. Lions are trying to win the rhino by getting it into water pod. The rhino is strong and is able to take it out of the pond.
Two lion cubs rescued from a ravaged Gaza zoo have a new home at a wildlife sanctuary in Jordan.A man purchased the brother and sister from the Rafah Zoo earlier this year,according to a press release from Four Paws, the international animal welfare group that facilitated the cubs' rescue.
The cubs cuddle in one crate during a rest stop along the way. The two cubs had their own individual crates during transportation. (Four Paws/Tom Benda)
The Israel Defense Forces demolished the zoo in 2004, and the facility has struggled to recover. Zoo owner Mohammed Ahmed Juma told Reuters in March that he sold the cubs because the profits would help him feed the remainder of the animals.Saad Eldeen Al-Jamal, the man who bought the cubs, told Agence France-Presse at the time that the animals were "like members of the family" and loved playing with his children in their home at a refugee camp in Rafah. Though he had the best of intentions, he soon found he had more than he could handle. Al-Jamal had trouble affording the huge amount of meat the cubs required, and was considering "leasing" them out to amusement parks, restaurants and resorts for extra cash, AFP reported.
Four Paws/Tom Benda
Additionally, veterinarian Amir Khalil, who led the Four Paws rescue mission, noted the wild animals posed a serious safety threat.
"Both cubs have already grown quite a bit bigger and stronger since their arrival in the refugee camp, and they now represent a significant danger for the inhabitants of the camp," Khalil said in a June statement.
"They should be given a beautiful, safe home -- and not be sold on to another zoo in the area!" he said.
Four Paws workers had been in the area twice before, spokeswoman Claire LaFrance told The Huffington Post. In September 2014, they rescued three lions from the "heavily-damaged" Al-Bisan Zoo, and in April they carried out an emergency relief mission to Khan Younis Zoo, bringing food and medical treatment to the animals. It was shortly after the April mission that the group received word of the Rafah cubs, LaFrance said.
Al-Jamal ultimately agreed to turn the animals over to the Four Paws team, which brought the cubs to a temporary outdoor enclosure in Jordan on Sunday evening. Though an earlier press release stated the cubs would be released in their permanent home at Al Ma'wa for Nature and Wildlife, a Jordan wildlife sanctuary, in the fall, LaFrance told HuffPost on Thursday that the cubs have already made it to the sanctuary.Al-Jamal and his family had previously called the lion siblings "Alex" and "Mona," but Four Paws workers changed their names to "Salam" and "Shalom" to symbolize a hope for peace in the region.
Four Paws/Tom Benda
Khalil said the cubs, now 5 months old, took the whole situation in stride, cuddling together any chance they got on the journey.
"They didn't really realize the whole turmoil evolving around them," he said.
The cubs are now undergoing veterinary exams at their temporary home. Both cubs were afflicted with a skin disease, while the female cub has swelling on the back of her head that vets suspect was caused by a stroke, according to the release. LaFrance noted that the two cubs are generally in good spirits and are curious about the other lions at the sanctuary.
She added that other captive animals in Gaza continue to be in a precarious situation, as the resources to care for the animals just aren't available in the war-torn region."As [is] the case in the Khan Younis Zoo, where an air raid last summer destroyed a great deal of the enclosures, many animal facilities are in dire need of simple food and water supplies, medical equipment and electricity," she said.
H/T The Dodo
This post has been updated with comments from Four Paws and to note the cubs are now in a Jordan wildlife sanctuary.Clarification: The cubs were not crammed into one small crate during transport. As other photos show, they each had separate crates with enough room to move around. Photos of the cubs cuddling were taken at rest stops and after arriving at their destination.
When it is time to give birth a lioness leaves her pride and has her lion cubs in dense cover.
Mothers give birth to up to 6 cubs at a time but litters of 2 or 3 are more common.Cubs remain hidden for one to two months before being introduced to the rest of the pride.
Lion cubs life cycle
Birth weight 1, 5 kilograms Eyes open at 3 to 11 days Weaning Starts at 10 weeks; completed at 10 months
Hunting skills achieved At 2 years old
Fully grown 3-4 years
Lion cubs start walking at 10 to 15 days old
All the lactating females in a pride suckle cubs showing no favoritism for their own offspring.The reason for this is that each lioness is enhancing her own genes' success by helping to raise her sisters' offspring.The cubs start to eat meat at about three months and are weaned at about six months.Lionesses stay within the pride all their lives but male lions either leave of their own accord or are driven off by the pride males at two to three years of age.
Female lions prefer their pride to have a large male coalition because it reduces the number of cubs lost to infanticide at take-overs
Do male lions help raising the cubs?
African male lions generally play no paternal role when it comes to provisioning of food to the cubs.
The responsibility for training them to hunt is also that of the mother.Male lions will however protect cubs from danger.
When do the cubs start hunting by themselves?
Cubs stay with their mothers for about two years, by which stage they have joined the pride's hunting trips.After one to two years of nomadic life these young males drive out the resident males of a pride and take over the females.If a small group of males leave together they are able to hunt as a group and stand a better chance of being able to take over a pride.Females prefer their pride to have a large male coalition because it reduces the number of cubs lost to infanticide at take-overs.The displaced male lions seldom live long since they no longer have lionesses to hunt for them.Lionesses prefer their pride to be controlled by a large coalition of males whose strength in numbers will give them a longer tenure.
The lion or African lion (Panthera leo) is a species of mighty and powerful large felines. These sturdy cats are related to the domestic household kitty, but, for one key difference, are significantly bigger, sometimes weighing upwards of 420 pounds. Big as fully mature lions are, newborn cubs usually only tip the scales at less than 5 pounds.
Lion Cubs At Birth
Although adult African lions significantly outweigh almost all human beings, they enter the world much smaller. The diminutive size of the newborn cubs may be because lioness gestation periods are so brief -- generally between 100 and 120 days. When fresh out of the womb, wee lion cubs usually only weigh in the range of 2 and 4 pounds. At birth, their eyes are still firmly shut, and actually don't open up until roughly 11 days later. Lions begin their lives totally without vision.
When Lion Cubs Start Walking
Certain species of animals are capable of walking practically immediately after birth -- think horses, for example. Baby foals generally possess the ability to get up and walk around approximately half an hour after birth. Lion cubs just are not as quick in this department, although they definitely beat out humans. Tiny lion cubs generally are able to fully walk when they reach around 15 days old, according to the University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web, although some may be able to walk a little bit sooner than that
When Lion Cubs Start Running
Although tiny lions may certainly be able to get up and walk around at approximately the half-month mark, they're usually not ready to run at that point. Cubs usually gain the ability to run when they're roughly a full month in age.
Cub Development
Female lions generally give birth to somewhere between two and three baby cubs at a time. However, litters can be as small as one cub, and even as big as six of them. Lion cubs typically enter the world in isolation, and do not meet the rest of the pride -- the lion social group -- until they're at least a month old and fully capable of both walking and running. Hunting activities typically start when cubs are only 6 weeks old. The little ones learn by closely observing their mothers. They rely on the care and assistance of the elders in their pride until they're a minimum of 16 months in age.
"It will take another 15 days for the cubs to open their eyes," he told the Press Trust of India.
"A lioness can feed only three to four cubs at a time. The fact that 4 lioness gave birth to 11 cubs illustrates that Asiatic lions are genetically strong and competent," he said.
Three of the eleven newborn lion cubs feeding
Gir National Park is the last habitat of Asiatic Lions in Asia. Ten Asiatic lions died there in recent floods, prompting calls for some lions to be relocated to another forest reserve to ensure their survival.According to latest census report released in May, the number of Asiatic lions in the sanctuary and its surrounding areas had gone up to 523, an increase of 27 per cent since 2010.The lions are lions are targeted by poachers who then sell their body parts on the black market.
The lion cubs have their own bed to sleep in and even play football at the the family home in war-torn Gaza Strip - but will have to be caged in coming months for safety
The ravages of war haven't stopped one family from adopting an unusual pet - as two lion cubs have been rescued from Gaza zoo by local refugees who have lifted the baby lions from the claws of poverty.Mona and Alex, the adorable two-month-old lion cubs, have been living with refugee Saad Aldeen Al-Jamal and his six children at their home in the Palestinian city of Rafah, in southern Gaza.The 54-year-old father says he bought the cubs from the impoverished Rafah zoo and the unusual pets have become an integral part of his family.
Al-Jamal said: "They're living inside the house just like the children. They eat and drink inside the room and they have a bed that they both sleep on. They also play football."The cubs were born in Rafah zoo and sold when they were just two-weeks-old.
The majority of inhabitants of the conflict-hit city are refugees and poverty doesn't just affect humans but also its animals.Rafah zoo owner, Mohammad Juma, said: "Because of the amount of animals, the bad economical situation, lack of leisure activities and that you don't have enough food or money... this (situation) would make you sell anything you have to save the rest of the animals."The Al-Jamal family might face a similarly tough situation in the near future as the cubs already consume half a kilo of meat every day.The family might be able to make the situation work for now, but once fully grown, lions can weigh more than 400 pounds, or nearly 200 kilograms.
Al-Jamal said that he knew the cubs would eventually become dangerous.“In one month, they will start being kept in a cage for our own safety,” he said.Most of the zoo animals in Gaza have been hauled into the isolated territory through smuggling tunnels linking the territory to Egypt.In 2013, a pair of newborn lion cubs died shortly after they were proudly unveiled by Gaza’s Hamas rulers.
Gaza zoo sells lion cubs Mona and Alex to local family after the summer war in Gaza leaves the zoo impoverished.
Becoming King: Why So Few Male Lions Survive to Adulthood
OKAVANGO DELTA, BOTSWANA — It ain't easy being king. Take a look at a pride of lions, and it becomes obvious that there are more females than males, usually at a ratio of about 2- or 3-to-1. Considering that male and female lions are born in equal numbers, the question arises: What happens to the missing males?
That's the question explored by a new film called "Game of Lions" (premiering Sunday (Dec. 1) at 10 p.m. ET on Nat Geo Wild), filmed here in the Okavango Delta, a lush wetland where the Okavango River collides with the Kalahari Desert. The area is home to a great variety of animals, such as lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo and hippopotamuses.
It's no easy feat finding lions. But under the guidance of Dereck and Beverly Joubert, filmmakers and National Geographic explorers-in-residence, it's a cinch. On the first afternoon of a three-day safari here, the couple located a group of five lions, including two cubs, as a group of four journalists drove to see them.
The first sight of wild lions is stirring, for a number of reasons. The cubs themselves are adorable, but the adults — each of which easily outweighs an offensive linemen and sports paws the size of small dinner plates — elicit a sort of tense wonder consisting of awe, respect for these powerful beasts, and something resembling fear but more like an awareness of one's mortality. They could easily kill us. But there are no words in the moment besides exclamations of disbelief.
But none of that matters to the lions, who live on this land and don't seem to pay any attention to visitors, driven about in a couple of Toyota Land Cruisers that are completely open to the air, no windows for separation.
The lion cubs seem happy and carefree, but their lives are not easy. Only about 1 in 8 male lions survive to adulthood, Dereck said.
Tough childhood
All lions face high mortality as cubs, for a variety of reasons, including injuries, lack of food, illness and being killed by adult lions — more on that later. But when male lions begin to reach sexual maturity around age 2, the older males within the pride kick them out, Dereck said. The female lions, which are usually all related to some degree, typically stay behind.
For a young male, "the betrayal by his own blood must be confusing to him, but this is an ancient rite — the casting out of young males into a world of unknowns — a world where he will be able make it, or die," said Dereck, 57, who sports a white beard and looks every bit the wilderness gentleman. Dereck and Beverly, 56, seem to belong here in Duba, where they made other films about lions, including "The Last Lions" and "Relentless Enemies."
After being kicked out, the young males roam the countryside solo or in small bands, often with their brothers or cousins, negotiating the no-cat's-land between territories of other lions, said Luke Hunter, the president of the big cat conservation group Panthera, in a phone interview. If they stray into these territories, they are likely to be attacked and/or killed. A majority of male lions die during this time, said Gabriele Cozzi, a researcher at Zurich University who wasn't involved in the film.
When male lionstake over a new territory, they almost always kill the prides' cubs, since they are not biologically related and do not want to spend energy ensuring that other lions' genes will be passed on. "They can't be stepfathers," Hunter told LiveScience. Female lions also will not be receptive to mating while they are nursing, so killing the cubs enables the male lions to procreate, said Beverly.
Lion hunting
Only physically strong, intelligent and fit males survive to become adults in charge of a pride, Dereck said. And these Okavango lions are probably the largest lions on the planet. That's because there is an abundance of buffalo and other animals to prey upon, and the fact that the animals often walk through water in the delta's many streams, building up their muscles, he said
Filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert, in their natural habitat, in Duba Plains camp, Botswana.
Spreading awareness
The Jouberts said they hope that the film will help people appreciate how difficult it is for male lions to survive to adulthood, and in turn discourage hunting of these animals. Viewing the animals up close shows just how easy it is to approach them, and makes it clear that lion hunting wouldn't be particularly challenging.
The killing of an adult male in a pride can throw the group into chaos, Dereck said. For example, this makes the pride more vulnerable to attack from an outside group of males, leading to upheaval and the almost certain killing of any young cubs, Dereck said.
In a typical natural population of lions, about 23 to 30 percent of the animals are males, Hunter said. But hunts geared toward males can skew that balance. In Zambia's Luangwa Valley, for example, hunting recently decreased the portion of males to 8 percent of the population, at least four times lower than it would normally be, he said.
Four-month-old Mangus the lion cub was kept on a liquid-only diet by owners of a circus two months longer than he should have been so that he would stay small for visitor’s selfies, according to The Mirror.
The circus owners were charging about $22 per selfie with Magnus and deliberately starved this young cub to ensure that he would not get too big for customers to pick him up. Not only is this incredibly cruel treatment for a small lion cub, but it has lead Magnus to develop serious health problems that will last for the duration of his life.
As a result of the liquid-only diet, Mangus’ esophagus had shrunk and he was unable to eat solids. Thankfully, he has been taken into care by Let’s Adopt, a global animal rescue that paid for a surgery to have his esophagus widened.
Little Mangus has recovered from the surgery and can now eat crushed chicken! His weight has doubled since the operation, from 24 pounds to 48 pounds.
“The circus regarded the baby lion as an attraction to bring in visitors and they were keen to keep it small for as long as possible,” Ivan Jimenez, a spokesman for Let’s Adopt, told The Mirror. “We decided to pay for the surgery although we usually only treat cats and dogs.”
Veterinarian Nelo Civera told The Mirror that it’s unlikely Mangus will ever be able to eat huge chunks of meat, and his meals will always have to be cut up for him to make sure he doesn’t try to swallow things that are too large.
“He certainly would never survive in the wild,” Civera says. Luckily, thanks to the kind people at Let’s Adopt, Magnus will be well looked after and will never have to endure this sort of abuse again.
While Magnus’ story is heartbreaking, unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated incident for small lions and tigers. Big cats used for photo opportunities are often drugged or severely abused, even though the industry tells visitors that the cats are just trained to be more docile. Cubs like Mangus typically have their claws and canine teeth removed to keep them from harming visitors. And it only gets worse: A recent undercover investigation revealed that big cats at two major facilities that allow selfies were infected with giardia and ringworm, which can both be passed to humans. Both of these organizations also masqueraded the selfies as part of their “conservation” message.
But that isn’t conservation at all — wild animals don’t want to snuggle with you. Cubs are taken from their mothers at eight weeks of age or earlier so that they’re easier to handle. This means that they don’t learn tiger social skills and become so over-socialized with and dependent on humans that they can never be released back into the wild.
Further, Big Cats Rescue says that entertainment acts with big cats or photos with them gives the public a totally distorted message:
“These acts either show man dominating one of nature’s most magnificent creatures, which would never happen on an even playing field, or, worse, are promoted as illustrations of the ‘special bond’ the trainer has with his captive.”
The latter view fuels the illegal trade for big cats and ruins our education concerning what these animals are really like in the wild. By boycotting circuses and parks that allow selfies with big cats, we can helpsavethem. Lion and tiger cubs should never have to suffer solely because we want a selfie!
No creature should ever be subjected to a life of pain and abuse — and certainly not a king. But while past injustices can never be rewritten, the future can always be made a little brighter for those who had to endure them.
For years, an elderly lion named Guero had been held prisoner at a private residence in Mexico. Trapped in his sparse enclosure, he exhibited clear signs of suffering, both physical and psychological.
Not only had his once-powerful teeth become worn down to nubs from gnawing on the bars that lined his cage, Guero also had a broken neck that was left untreated. As a result, the lion walked with a limp as he paced restlessly with no hope of escaping.
Fortunately for the bedraggled animal, help did arrive. A local rescue group was able to secure Guero's release, after which they reached out to The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado in hopes of getting him medical treatment, and a new home where he could live out his days in peace.
Relocating Guero wouldn't come cheap, but rescuers were able to raise enough money from donors to fly him via private plane to the United States. Last week, the elderly lion touched down in Colorado where he was met by caregivers to begin treatment for his broken neck and numerous other maladies.
Colorado State University
At long last, Guero was alone no more. A whole team of vets from Colorado State University's Veterinary Teaching Hospital leapt into action, assessing what could be done to improve the remaining years of the lion's life.
"With patients like this, it often takes a hospital to treat a patient," Dr. Terry Campbell, a specialist in exotic animal medicine, said in a release. "That's why CSU is perfect for cases like this, because we have so much expertise in a variety of medical specialties."
Performing surgery on Guero's broken neck was deemed to be too risky given his age and the amount of time it had gone untreated, so they decided instead to prescribe medicine to ease his discomfort. Meanwhile, a dentist was able to help correct the lion's broken teeth, allowing him to eat once again without pain.
Guero will be moved to his new home on the sprawling 720-acre Wild Animal Sanctuary — thousands of miles from where his sad story began, and immeasurably closer to the dignity he deserves.
"We think he'll most likely live another three to five years, but even if it's a year he lives, we're going to make sure that he's comfortable and happy – good food, soft ground, some grass to play on and some fresh air to breathe," said Rebecca Miceli, from the sanctuary.
"That's our hope."
Rescued Lion Receives Care at Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital
