Watch This Crocodile Appear Out Of Nowhere And Attack A Swimming Lioness

What looked like a perfectly straightforward swim across a small expanse of water has turned into a nightmare experience for this lioness. Hiding in the murky water is a crocodile who sees the swimming lion as potential prey and attacks with lightning speed. In the below clip, we get to see what happens when two predators come face-to-face.

Check Out The Entire Video Below!

Is It Normal Behavior For Lions To Swim Like This?

Ecologists state that lions can swim but are not that keen on doing so. They don’t do it every day and they don’t enjoy it in the way that some other big cats such as tigers seem to do. If you see a lion in the water, it is usually to achieve a purpose. This lioness looks as if she is trying to reach another location. Perhaps she has spotted some prey there? However, in doing so, she almost becomes prey herself!

Where Do Lions And Crocodiles Live?

Lions (Panthera leo) are large members of the Felidae family and are found in Africa and Asia. They usually live in open woodland, scrub, and grassland. However, in recent years the African Lion population has been reduced to countries in sub-Saharan Africa. As they are carnivores, they have to find prey and can travel some distances around their territory to do so. They are social animals and live in prides and it is the females that do most of the hunting. Lions hunt large herbivores such as gazelles, zebras and warthogs. They have very few predators but, as we see here, crocs can be one of them!

Crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) are magnificent reptiles found in many parts of the world including Africa. They spend most of their time in rivers, lakes, marshes, lagoons, mangrove swamps and estuaries. We see the croc in this clip adopt their classic hunting tactic which is to wait hidden in murky water and then strike before the target has a chance to escape.

Crocodile Vs Lion Fight

The crocodile vs lion encounter is an interesting one and the outcome is hard to predict. Both animals are equipped with speed and power but the croc wins on bite force (3,700 psi) and tactics in the water – namely the death roll.

This lioness, therefore, has a lucky escape. In the water, she is no match for the croc but the reptile loses its grip and she manages to reach shallow water so she can put her feet on the ground – and run!

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Mari Swanepoel/Shutterstock.com