A Tanzanian Standoff

We watched this drama (almost) play out in a stream of the Mara River for nearly two hours. The ultimate African safari story of survival. Predator versus prey. A real Tanzanian standoff.

Seven lions - the kings of the jungle - against one eland - the king of the antelopes. Emotionally, it was like watching a prize fight between two heavyweight champions in Madison Square Garden. Or the first Rocky movie. Rocky versus Apollo Creed. You kinda knew from the beginning that Rocky wouldn't end up the winner but you rooted for him anyway.

The eland was sitting in about four feet of water. He was clearly injured - we saw some blood in the water. The lions had probably attacked him first on land and the wounded eland had taken refuge in the stream. The water was a great advantage for the eland and a serious disadvantage for the lions. Lions do not like to get wet.

The seven lions looked like several adult females with adolescents. Collectively, they probably still weighed less than the mighty eland. Four feet was just too deep for the lions to swim in and fight the eland. They would expend too much energy trying to kill him in the water. Some of them would probably die in the process. The eland is the mightiest of the antelope and his horns are a fierce weapon. They would be approaching him from the top of his horns. And even if they did manage to kill the eland in the water, how would they get him up onto the bank to eat? The eland was too heavy for the much smaller lions to drag up on shore.

It was most likely the last stand for the eland. Even if he somehow managed to survive this particular bout, he would still be coming away from it exhausted, injured and alone. A great disadvantage to survival in the bush. The eland was desperate and it was clear he was not going to give up without a fight.

The lions could always walk away. They might get bored waiting for the eland to climb out of the stream and go off to find an easier conquest. But they had clearly made an investment in the eland and they weren't ready yet to walk away. They were hungry. They yawned. They paced. They scratched the ground. They taunted the eland to try to force him out onto the bank. They were arrogant and clearly in control. They could afford to wait. If they lost the battle tonight, they could still hunt again tomorrow.

The lions sat and waited. And we sat and waited and watched transfixed. If this was a Hollywood movie or a best-selling novel, how would it play out? Here were the possible scenarios:

1. The eland wins. In a final burst of energy, the eland struggles to his feet and bursts out of the water, outruns the seven stunned lions and escapes to freedom. Not likely. The eland was injured, outflanked, severely outnumbered and had probably lost a lot of energy sitting in the cold water. The lions were hungry and unhurt.

2. The lions win.  The lions would somehow coax the eland onto the bank and take him down on dry land. They were set up for it. One on one side and six on the other. The eland was clearly trapped in his own defensive water prison. But how were the lions going to convince the eland to come out of the water?

3. Nobody wins. The eland dies in the water. The lions walk away hungry. Perhaps the scavengers might be able to salvage something from the remains.

We were all rooting for the underdog, the eland. Sitting there staring into his eyes, you couldn't help feeling sorry for him.

A couple of times, he seems to look directly at us with his large eland eyes and say, "Dude, can you help me out here?" We all wanted to! But the lions have to eat too.








Finally the impatient lions started to make their possibly penultimate move.

The lion on the left approached the eland first. He swatted at the antelope forcing him get up and move to the other side of the stream.

Then the lead lion on the right sprung up and swatted at the eland.

He struck a blow clawing the eland on the back.

The eland moved again to the safe center of the stream.

Then the eland sat back down in the water and the lions retreated to their sitting positions on the bank. It was going to be a long night for the Tanzanian standoff.

The eland gave it his all in that encounter but it was just not enough. It was heart-breaking to watch. We assessed the situation and our options. We decided that it was unlikely the lions would walk away or the eland would be able to escape. We didn't want to hang around and watch scenario two happen in real time and we certainly did not want to watch the eland die in the water either.

It was getting late and the sun was starting to set so we decided to go back to camp and let the drama run out unobserved. Our plan was to return in the morning to see if we could figure out how the story had ultimately ended.

We returned in the morning to find no sign whatsoever of the eland. And there was only one lion visible on shore.

The eland could have died and sunk to the bottom of the stream. It was deep enough. Or he could have made it to shore and the lions could have killed him in the night, dragged him into the high reeds below the trees and eaten their fill. The other six lions could all still be sleeping off their nighttime drama and dinner right there under the tree and we would never be able to see them in the tall consuming grass.

Our only clue was the large distended belly of the single lion standing on the bank of the stream.