The struggle of a badly wounded antelope to break free from the clutches of two lions has been caught in this heart-breaking video.
At the start of the footage, captured in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, two lionesses can be seen with their teeth in the antelope but it puts up a fierce struggle.
The lions then back off and the antelope staggers to its feet though its legs are too damaged for it to be able to make a full escape.
Video: Lionesses face bloody battle with stubborn roan antelope
As it tries to walk, the antelope’s hind legs can be seen buckling and the menacing sight of a lion can be seen coming back into shot.
The wounded antelope lies down on the grass and the lion is joined by another member of the pride as they eye up their prey.
One of them begins the attack again but again they leave it alone and the distressed antelope makes another attempt to walk.
The antelope tries to support itself on its front feet, which are buckled and folded under its leg. Eventually the antelope staggers to a bush where one of the lions, which is still wary of its kick, moves in for the kill.
The footage was taken by Sandro Geyser, a 33-year-old company director, who said camp staff informed his group that there were some lions nearby.
He said they initially saw ‘saw two lionesses lying in the shade on a blistering hot day’.
When they returned 40 minutes later we ‘saw the lions already on the roan antelope less than 15 meters from us’.
‘The initial attack was only witnessed by the people in our car and we were the only people that witnessed everything from start to finish,’ he said.
He said he initially felt ’emotions of excitement at being able to see such a rare sighting in broad daylight’ that changed to ‘feelings of sorrow…towards the struggling roan’.
He said ‘the roan was fighting for survival’ but it seemed as ‘if there was a truce between them’.
‘I have been privileged to see many rare animal sightings and behaviours throughout Southern Africa, but this tops the list as the most touching and memorable sighting,’ he said.
Source: dailymail.co.uk
