The cape buffalo is one of the toughest animals on the planet, and if you needed anymore proof of that look no further than today's wild video out of the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve in South Africa. Some tourists on safari were situated next to a waterhole late in the evening when a herd of cape buffalo decided to come in for a much-needed drink. While the humans sit there watching, a massive crocodile decides to take a chance at bringing down one of the buffalo and latches onto the snout of a large female.
What happens next is nothing short of amazing as the buffalo, obviously in agonizing pain, slowly backs her way out of the water and up onto the bank. She doesn't stop there. She keeps backing up while the crocodile refuses to let go. The buffalo ultimately drags the crocodile quite a way out of the water before it finally realizes it has bitten off more than it can chew and releases its grip. It's one of the wilder videos to come out of Africa in quite some time.
The cape buffalo has earned the nickname "the black death" because they are one of the deadlier land animals that isn't a carnivore in Africa. They have a short temper and given the right situation, they will not hesitate to mess up a lion or leopard that strays too close. Crocodiles know the buffalo are a tough prey item, so it's not often they target them like this.
We're not sure how big this crocodile was, but when you consider an adult can easily weigh in the 500- to 1,000-pound range, that buffalo was showing off some serious strength to drag that big reptile around like he was a pool toy. Eventually the croc realized it wasn't worth the risk of injury and abandoned the attack.
It's hard to say how the buffalo will do after this attack. If her jaw wasn't damaged and it was just her nose, we imagine she'll make a full recovery. They are tough animals. Note how the buffalo immediately approached the water again afterwards. These animals aren't afraid of the crocodiles. Just another wild day in the African bush.
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