Watch This Clueless Warthog Hit Turbo-Speed When It Turns the Corner and Sees 4 Lions

This speedy little warthog ambles into a group of sleeping lions and then turns on a dime to race away from danger. The hilarious footage was captured at Sabi Sand Game Reserve and shows that prey animals can’t afford to relax because they never know what is waiting around the corner. As the video shows, the lions were as shocked as the warthog.

Watch the Hilarious Footage Below

Do Lions Normally Hunt Warthogs?

The warthog in this clip had a good reason to be scared because they are a key prey species for many lions. Lions have very high protein needs and have to eat meat to stay alive. They often focus on two or three key species in an ecosystem and learn how to become experts at catching them. Warthogs can be one of those species as can animals such as zebra and impala.

Lions will also target smaller animals such as porcupines and mice and some lions scavenge carcasses from other predators such as cheetahs and leopards.

Why Didn’t the Lions Chase the Warthog?

The lions in this clip are fast asleep and look as startled as the warthog! They all leap up at the same time and stare after the warthog looking a little bemused! They do not attempt to chase after it.

This may be because they have just eaten and are sleeping off a large meal. Also, lions prefer a stalk and quick charge method of hunting prey. They like to keep their chases quite short. Ideally, they will have the advantage because they will already be accelerating by the time the prey animal spots them.

What happens here is the direct opposite. The warthog is already speeding away so the lions are unlikely to try to catch up. It’s too much energy to expend on securing a small meal!

How Warthogs Evade Lions

Lions are a principal predator of warthogs and many lion prides have special warthog-hunting skills. Typically, the big cats dig out burrows or hide in long grass and wait to ambush the warthogs. To overcome this, warthogs both vocalize (squeal, grunt, and growl) and actively defend themselves by sweeping their tusks around. They also hide in thick cover or holes and this may be where the hog in this clip has disappeared to!