Cat forced to use hippo carcass as a life raft after crossing river in an attempt to eat it
- The lion was filmed when it was forced to use a hippo carcass as a life raft
- It fell off the carcass while snacking on it and the current dragged it away
- But it managed to swim back on top of the carcass, where it sought refuge
A
lion has been caught on camera using a hippo carcass as a makeshift life
raft - after nearly drowning in an attempt to cross a swollen river to
eat it.
Remarkable
footage of the big cat struggling to stay afloat and seeking refuge on
the bloated carcass was captured by two tourists visiting the Sabi River
in Kruger National Park, South Africa.
Filmed
by French tourists Denis and Valerie Wiest late last year, the lion was
caught in a spot of bother after spying what it thought was a free
lunch in the river.
The lion was seen chewing on the hippo carcass in the middle of the surging river in South Africa
But the slippery hippo remains saw the lion tumble into the swollen river head first
The currently quickly started pulling it downstream and it began frantically paddling towards its only refuge
The lion managed to reach the carcass once again and it climbed back on top of it to avoid the rushing water
Mr Wiest confirmed that after misjudging the strong current, the big cat ended up using his meal as refuge. He said: 'We were filming from the Lower Sabie camp bridge, just above where the dead hippo was lying.
'There were two male lions close by who spotted the animal in the river. One of the cats lay down on the road and waited, while the second ventured out towards the hippo. We
watched in shock as the lion tried to pick a piece of the hippo, but
the carcass was very slippery and the current was really strong. The poor lion fell in the water and looked really distressed as the current started to pull him away. However he was able to swim back to the hippo and ended up climbing on top until a car with rangers arrived.'
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