Re: Animal interaction video

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

MKIRKALDY@aol.com writes: 

> Interesting was that the herd came over to assess the situation and seemed  
> to be standing there, thinking what to do, until two bulls took the lead to  
> confront the lions--then others joined in.  

I suspect the bulls were just taking the opportunity to attack lions while 
they were distracted (by both a prey item and a croc), rather than trying to 
rescue a herd member. Cape buffalos will attack lions on sight whether or 
not they're an immediate threat (they seem to have invented the 'pre-emptive 
strike'). I've seen footage of bulls tracking down hidden lion cubs and 
stomping several of them to death while their mother was absent. It seems 
that rescuing a fellow buffalo might be something a mother would do for her 
calf, but otherwise they're not the most altruistic of animals. 

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Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist              geo cities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia             heretichides.soffiles.com
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