I took a bit of videoclip in the Kwai region in Moremi of some lion buffalo interaction. Not the best camera work, but had only just bought the camcorder. Type in Okavango Drama on Youtube to see it.

Wow

here's the link
http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=U9oJUdpgqYU

Nice work Alwyn, I carry a lightweight Sony tripod, that I can extend two legs to the floor of the vehicle and have one leg partially extending on the seat between my legs and it gives a very stable platform. Tha advantage when filming long interactions is that you can use the LCD to keep a track of what the camera is filming, use the tripod controls to track the action and still see some of it for yourself.
The other trick to avoid too much camera shake is not to zoom in too tight.

I thought I wanted to see a live kill when I was in Africa, but I have changed my mind. I don't think I would be able to handle it. I feel so bad for the poor prey.
I know it's nature and survival of the fittest, but it's still hard for me to watch.
Good video though. I did fast forward through some just to see how long it took that poor buffalo to die.
Thanks for sharing. You have made me feel much better about not seeing an actual kill for real.

Looks like the lions got a surprise visitor near the end. That IS hard to watch and when I hear someone crying in the video it really got to me. Your own "Battle at Okavango" video.

Kills are tough, but none tougher than Lions on a baby Elephant at Kings Pool air strip. I videoed some and DW took some photos, neither have seen the light of day.

i stopped watching it after a few minutes, but i wonder if I was there if it would have been different, either i could watch the whole thing or i would need to close my eyes and ears. I guess I won't know till i experience it, but thanks for sharing the video.
My trip is planned for the end of May!!!

EXCELLENT!

gruesome but circle of life!
we want to watch it but on the other hand it's sad...........
it's always good to be at the end of the food chain ;-)

that's the salt in the soup of any safari!

div

Hi Alwyn,

Good to hear from you and awesome sighting!!! How lucky you guys were .......

How are the rains so far this year? and what is your prediction for this summer? (Let me call you the Delta weather man, for now

Hari, we have had a bit of rain in November and it really got things going but it has actually stopped and has been a little bit dissapointing the last week or so. I actually have to water my lawn again because it has dried out so much. Was up in Moremi for the weekend and GREAT wilddogs sightings and lion up there.

Thanks, Alwyn.

Thanks for posting Alwyn.

I think it's the slow death that's the upsetting bit even though it must happen all the time.

The wildlife programmes I've seen mostly end up sanitising everything (although I do remember a Planet Earth lion and elephant encounter where they did show something more realistic - but I guess they even had to cut that for time constraints).

I've never been lucky enough to see a kill in Africa although I did see a tiger kill in India (they're quick though).

Thanks for posting this. Yes, it is cruel and harsh, but this is the same kind of thing that has been happening on earth for hundreds of millions of years. And although as humans we have come to believe that we are above things like this, keep in mind that our ancestors were doing the exact same thing to mammoths, bison, and lots of other animals very recently in our history. Imagine how quickly a group of spear-armed humans could subdue a mammoth, for example.

Chris

Wow. I consider myself very lucky to have seen a 'hit and miss'. Two lionesses tried going for a wildebeest. One lioness jumped on its back and tried to flip it over, but luckily it didn't fall and managed to run away with a friend alllll the way back to the main herd. You can be sure we were all rooting for the wildebeests!!

Amazing how they wear the wildebeest out taking turns riding on top of it while clenching jaws around its spine. Did they never actually drag it out of the water?

That's a lot of lions to have to feed. How big is the pride?

Good catch on your part Alwyn.
Thanks for sharing.

We came in on the last part of a kill at Chitabe. Logistically it was extremely hard to video - the rough terrain, tall grass, in and out of the water, the speed of the lions, the excitement and movement in the vehicle, etc.

For some reason it was easier to watch during real time than it is on an actual video.
I guess it may be a matter of being in the moment versus sitting in your warm room with time to reflect.