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Cape Buffaloes Unite to Save Baby Buffalo

A popular YouTube clip titled "Battle at Kruger" pictures the importance of Christian unity. The clip shows four lions pounce on three Cape buffalo as the buffalo drink from a watering hole. The Cape buffalo—mother, father, and calf—scatter when attacked. The four lions get hold of the tiny calf, and it doesn't look good. Gnawing, biting, tearing, and dragging, the lions fight to bring the calf to the ground. It's buffalo versus lion. Then, some crocodiles also get in on what seems to be a food fight. The little buffalo has no way of retaliating. All he can do is hang in there.

That's when the herd shows up. At least a hundred Cape buffalo. A solid wall of muscle and horns encircles the four lions. The largest, strongest bulls stand side by side, forming a battering ram of horns at the front of the mass. One at a time, the largest bulls take turns charging the lions. One bull gores a lion, throwing it ten feet in the air. The other lions keep gnawing at the calf, which is still alive, but now out of the water and away from the crocodiles. The lions don't take the herd seriously—until another lion gets gored. And another gets stampeded. Finally, the calf breaks free from the last lion, and the largest bulls chase the pride of lions away.

What no single buffalo could do alone—attack, frighten, and chase away four lions—the community of buffalo could easily do together. In the end, the calf walked away without a limp. One animal expert explained that Cape buffalo typically function in various individual groups and even fight with each other. But, she added, "If a youngster is threatened, both the harem males and bachelor males—which usually fight with one another—will get together to try to rescue it."

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