Flattering to Deceive
Because of the abundance of less risky prey, we’ve never seen any lions bringing down buffaloes in our conservancy. But of course there’s always a first time. So, when a male buffalo sauntered nonchalantly within view of the Ilkisau-sau boys, we thought we might see them go after it. The buffalo saw them too but seemed to be completely unperturbed and almost daring the lions to charge. The lions though, flattered to deceive and soon backed down. Ultimately they walked away, leaving the buffalo undaunted. We were seeing this from a couple of hundred metres away and did not go closer so as not to interfere with what might happen.