This incredible footage shows a pride of lions facing off with a group of rhinos, charging them and trying to find an opening to attack. The extremely rare encounter was shot just outside of Kruger national park, in Zambia. “It’s not common, It happens, but it’s not common … In six years that we’ve been in the Kruger [National] park we’ve seen a rhino - lion encounter maybe twice” said Mark Fox, 54, owner of Foxy Crocodile Bush Retreat and trained field ranger. Mark shot the video alongside his wife, and co-owner of the retreat, Gail. “On that particular morning I heard lions contact-calling, so I went down a road, and there they were on the road … then they walked into the bush. There were three or four other cars watching, and those cars moved away. I said to Gail, no no no, those Lions are walking toward something… ” Mark continued According to Mark, this was more a test of strength and an attempt at intimidation than actually killing the rhinos. He explained: “If you watch the video, it’s the young lions that are close to the rhinos, then the big male, he just came stomping in, it’s almost like he gave them a command, turned around, walked away and they left the rhinos alone” The already rare and beautiful sight may get even rarer. “Rhinos are something that I particularly take note of … the rhino population itself has been decimated, we know that. If you look at the statistics, in excess of 1000 rhino have been poached in southern Africa the last 3 years in a row,” Mark told us. Mark also explained that Kruger national park is currently engaged in efforts to de-horn rhino to combat this, but their efforts may not be enough, as the species remains critically endangered.
