Watch This ‘Tough as Nails” Baboon Valiantly Battle a Pride of Lions

Key Points

• Baboons are known for being aggressive when they are under attack. They are also highly intelligent and have a complex social structure.
• By acting as a team, lionesses maximize their chances of success. This clip shows how they are generalist hunters and stalk and ambush their prey
• The baboon gets injured in the encounter and finds himself stuck up a small tree surrounded by several lionesses.

One of the skills you need as a predator is to know how to avoid getting injured yourself. When a lioness takes on a large baboon, that risk of injury is very real. Baboons have sharp nails and teeth and are not scared to use them. In the below clip, we get to see a baboon getting caught off guard by a stalking lioness. She managed to avoid getting injured but is chased off by the aggressive primate. The baboon gets injured in the encounter and finds himself stuck up a small tree surrounded by several lionesses. We learn that he survived the night but don’t get to find out what happened to him after that.

Olive Baboons in Masai Mara

This footage was shot in the Masai Mara which is home to some olive baboons, also called the anubis baboon. They are one of the larger species of baboons and have an olive green/grey coat. These baboons live in groups that can be as large as 100 individuals but normally consist of between 20 and 50 baboons.

Baboons are known for being aggressive when they are under attack. They are also highly intelligent and have a complex social structure. They are omnivores and have a varied diet that includes rodents and even the young of larger mammals. To help them catch prey they have large canines which can be used as a weapon if needed.

How Do Lionesses Hunt?

Lionesses live in groups called prides and hunt together. By acting as a team, they maximize their chances of success. Lions are generalist hunters and stalk and ambush their prey. You can see the lioness doing just this in the clip. Lions have been seen ambushing groups of baboons on the ground but if the primates get into a tree, lions are highly unlikely to follow. Their bodies are not designed for branch-level pursuits.

It is the larger, heavier and often more experienced lionesses that lead the hunt. Lions learn how to use uneven terrain and vegetation to hide themselves. That worked very well here – the baboon was taken completely by surprise.

Watch the Fascinating Clip Below: