The Kruger National Park is where all the action is at, and last week was no different when a tiny crab – only four-inches tall – clawed its way to safety from the clutches of four curious lions.
The incident – reported to LatestSightings – by Rangers Ruggiero Barreto (30) and Robyn Sewell (27) was a rare sighting and one the rangers won’t soon forget.
The little crab, who generally only roams the plains at night, unexpectedly made its way out of the burrow in the day and was attempting to cross a river in the MalaMala Game Reserve, within the Sabie Sands, when it caught the attention of a pride of lions.
The four-lion strong Kambula pride peered curiously as the freshwater crab raised his tiny claws as a warning that they should not get any closer.
Soon four sub adult lions surrounded the crab who continued to show off its strength by clicking its pincers at them. The lions looked on as the tiny crustacean warded them off. Eventually it managed to escape their gaze and burrowed back into a hole safely.
The rangers recorded the incident in amazement and told LatestSightings that they didn’t expect a lone crab to take on a pride of lions.
“They were sheltering from the wind in the Mlowathi Riverbed and were sleeping so we thought we would drive on and look back a little later. But suddenly we noticed one of the sub-adults get up and start staring at something and at first we thought it was a scorpion but it was a crab,” the rangers explained.
They think the lions were surprised by something they’d never seen before and their curiosity gave the little champ a chance to escape unharmed.
ALSO READ: 7 intriguing facts about the grand Kruger National Park
