Felids Interactions - Intraspecific Conflicts

[Tshokwane]

Lion Fight, from 2011:
Lions may be famed for their majestic beauty, but things turned ugly when these two big cats fought over the attention of one lioness.

In scenes that you're more likely to see outside a pub on a Saturday night, the lions stunned tourists, travelling in the Masai Mara national park in Kenya, by scrapping with each other.
As one lion noticed the other eyeing up his mate, he lunged, roared and swung at his competitor - and all the while the lioness causally strolled on while the men claw and bite chunks out of each other.

The fight lasted more than 10 minutes and the challenger was put in his place, retreating with his tail between his legs, while the stronger lion returned to his mate.

Photographer Olga Kirillova was amazed when she spotted the drama unfolding and managed to capture the whole fight on her camera.
The 25-year-old Russian bank worker said: 'We were driving through the park hoping to spot some wildlife when we saw the lion and the lioness in the bushes near the road.

'We started to photograph them when I noticed another lion in the distance.

'He wandered over to the couple and clearly had his eye on the lioness.'
Miss Kirillova continued: 'But the first lion just flew at him - they were rolling around on the ground so close to our cars - it was quite frightening, but incredible to see.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

'They were fighting for at least 10 minutes, and they drew blood - we could see blood on the first lion's teeth.

'We were all quite taken aback by the fight - but the lioness was absolutely calm.
'She didn't pay much attention to the fight - she seemed sure that her lion would win.'
Miss Kirllova added: 'Eventually, the second lion retreated to the side of the road - it looked like he was rolling around in pain.
'He was completely put to shame by the first lion - and gave up and ran off.
'The first lion chased him for a while, before returning to his mate.
'The pair of them then walked away, together, in the opposite direction.
'It was an amazing thing to have experienced.'

*This image is copyright of its original author

Reply