A hungry lion charged at vultures and hyenas feeding on an elephant carcass in South Africa’s Timbavati Game Reserve recently ― and he had extra motivation to keep the remains for himself. (Watch the video below.)
Field guide Rushada Schutte, who shot the remarkable footage, told HuffPost on Wednesday that the lion was limping from an injury in a previous fight.
“He was going to make sure no one was eating his food because it is very difficult for him to run and hunt,” Schutte, who works at Timbavati’s Machaton Private Camp, wrote in an email.
Schutte said she heard from other guides that the lion was making his way back to the scavenger-surrounded carcass from the river, where he had a drink.
“So we positioned the vehicle in hopes that we would capture his return on video,” she said. “Lions are very possessive over their meals and (we) knew he would chase them off if he saw them eating his meal.”
“He could not have made a better entrance upon his return,” Schutte wrote in the Instagram caption.
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