Even the witnesses could not believe that the speed of the wild boar allowed it to easily outpace the pride of lions.
Lions have the highest success rate in hunting on the African savannah due to their effective use of the “ambush” strategy to catch their prey. However, in some cases, lions still let their prey escape in incredibly surprising ways.
The thrilling video below captures a pride of lions in Kruger National Park (South Africa) surrounding and chasing a wild boar.
The poor animal had no idea it was being watched by the pride of lions. It casually approached a nearby river to drink water, completely unaware of the danger. Meanwhile, the lions quietly moved in, spreading out to create a surrounding formation.
When one lion initiated the attack, the entire pride charged forward. At that moment, the boar was startled and ran away “at full speed” in the opposite direction. However, this was also when the hunt took an incredibly unexpected turn.
It is unclear whether the boar was too frightened or if the lions were overconfident, but their chase ended extremely quickly, with victory going to the one with superior speed.
It can be seen that although the lions had surrounded and significantly closed the distance, they still could not catch up to the speed of their prey and quickly gave up. This is a rather rare occurrence in nature, as lions are believed to have higher speeds and acceleration capabilities comparable to those of wild boars.
The wild boar’s impressive sprint.
According to various documents, although they have relatively short legs, wild boars can maintain an impressive speed of about 55 km/h over short distances. Meanwhile, an adult lion can sustain speeds of up to 80 km/h.
Nevertheless, it is clear that lions do not always triumph over wild boars in a marathon race. This is because fleeing is always a basic survival instinct of the boar when faced with predators.
This is also the only pig species that has adapted to grassland and savannah environments, rather than dense forests like some other wild pig species. They are omnivorous. In addition to grass, roots, various fruits, tree bark, and mushrooms, they can also eat insects, eggs, and carcasses of other animals.
A distinctive feature of wild boars is their two pairs of tusks that protrude from their mouths and curve upward. This structure allows them not only to dig effectively but also to fight against other boars as well as defend themselves against predators.
Especially if a mother boar is nursing her young, she will become extremely aggressive to protect her litter. Sometimes, mother boars are willing to chase and even injure large predators.
