We are in Botswana in the Khwai River area with an experienced guide. The area is located northeast of the Moremi National Park and is part of the Okawango Delta.
In the early afternoon we discover a four to five year old elephant that is standing in the river and trying to drink. The herd has already moved on because he needs several hours to drink with his stubby trunk. A few hundred meters away, Lucky (our guide) tracks down nine lionesses who spend the hot hours of the day sleeping behind shady bushes. ”Between 5pm and 6pm they will kill the elephant”, Lucky predicts.
Lionesses chasing an elephant right in front of my 500 lens – I hardly dare to dream of that. During the next three hours of game drive, I can barely concentrate on the animals and taking photos. My thoughts are with the elephant and the lionesses. Shortly after 5pm we drove back to the river.
The elephant is still there and the silhouettes of the lionesses can also be seen behind the distant bushes. I put myself in the “shooting position” and check all settings. A control image calms the nerves! The wait begins, the lionesses are still lying on the grass and the sun is only just above the horizon.
I have to constantly adjust the ISO values upwards, hopefully the attack will start soon. Finally, with the last light of day, the lionesses come towards the river.
One approaches the elephant, while the others wait some distance away – bored. The attacker is already very close when the elephant notices the danger. He turns around and confidently chases away the attacker. But the lioness comes back and provokes the little elephant.
This time he takes a few steps towards the bank so that the cheeky lioness notices who the bigger one here is. This “game” is repeated a few times until the elephant is on land and runs after the cheeky lioness.
However, this is the beginning of its end. After 20-30 meters the young elephant discovers the other lionesses and turns right and escape to the water. But seconds later the little elephant is attacked by the first lioness and two more follow in the next instant.
Six lionesses definitely bring him down and one is about to catch a bite. It’s unbelievable what’s going on in front of my lens. Hopefully, I have everything right in the “box”. Take a quick breather, readjust ISO values and then the “hunting fever” grabs me again. What follows now is nature in all its brutality.
The ‘catch’ bite is unsuccessful, the elephant is still alive and the lionesses begin to eat him alive.
We experience an emotional roller coaster. On the one hand the extremely great luck and the unique chance to see and photograph such a hunt and on the other hand the cries of pain of the little elephant in its agony.
Fortunately, these fall silent after a few minutes and the sun has also said goodbye in the meantime.