There's nothing much more terrifying than a Nile crocodile. But for all their size and fearsome jaws, a pride of lionesses proved the other day that the lion is still the king— or in this case queen—of the jungle.
A viral video recorded earlier this week and posted on the Nature Is Metal Instagram page shows a group of lionesses working together to wrestle, and ultimately kill, a crocodile.
The video is a mash-up of four clips recorded by a wildlife photographer working in Zambia named Muhammad Mulla. Mulla's Instagram is full of incredible photographs and videos of African wildlife, particularly big cats like jaguars and lions.
His four-part lionesses versus crocodile video series takes place on the Busanga Plains in Zambia, which is home to Kafue National Park. At 14,000 square miles, it's the second-largest national park in the world, with nearly 160 mammal species and roughly 200 lions. The Kafue River cuts through the park and is known for its massive Nile crocodiles.
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Mulla's first video, the one reposted by Nature Is Metal, starts with the pride, which consists of about a dozen lionesses, half of which are adults and half of which are juveniles, milling around in a field. It suddenly becomes clear that the lionesses are honed in on a crocodile lying in their midst. One cat slinks up to the croc and taps its snout with its paw.
That's all the provocation the croc needs. It snaps at the lionesses, thrashing its head. The adult cats circle the crocodile, swatting at it while the juveniles stay back. Suddenly, a larger female grabs the crocodile by the tail and begins dragging it across the field.
In the second video, the lionesses continue the slow process of wearing the croc down, teasing it with bites and swats while staying just out of reach of its dangerous jaws. The croc is visibly tired, and by the end of the second clip, the lionesses are practically pig-piled on top of the crocodile in the wallow, while a larger female bites into the croc's back to immobilize it.
In the third video, the crocs are piled up on what appears to be a dead crocodile. Several of the adults have sunk their teeth into the croc, and the cubs gather round to watch. In the fourth and last video, night has fallen and the pride is gathered around the clearly dead crocodile. One lioness takes her fill of the croc meat, warning off the smaller lions until she is finished.
People took to the comment section of the Nature Is Metal repost, many of them making light of the fact that the Nile crocodile seemed out of its element and definitely in the wrong territory.
"Danger log rollin through the murder kitten neighborhood, time to get active," one user wrote, while another commented, "Man's GPS definitely didn't get the Prideland update before his trip."
The Nature is Metal caption explains that crocodiles occasionally have to leave their watery sanctuary to regulate their body temperature by basking in the sun. Crocodiles are ectothermic, meaning they can't generate their own internal heat. Laying in the sun helps raise their core temperature, and also kills parasites and algae that live on their scales.
Unfortunately for this one crocodile, this was the last sunny spa day it'll ever have.
READ MORE: Gustave the Crocodile: The Legend of a 20-Foot Maneater
