Harrowing moment five lions pin down screaming baby giraffe before devouring it alive
FIVE young lions have been caught on camera playing with a baby giraffe before devouring it alive in less than ten minutes.
The cubs were seen brushing and stroking the giraffe's back and neck before one of them bit it in the neck.
The young mammal continued to spasm as the hungry lions tucked in at the Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa.
Heartbreaking images captured by amateur photographer Desmond Chu from Sydney, Australia, show the giraffe's mother sadly watching on just moments before realising that her child was being murdered.
Other pictures show the lions tearing the poor infant giraffe apart.
In one of the photos, a lion with its face covered in blood proudly looks at the photographer.
The 47-year-old, who was only 16 feet from the kill, said: “On the emotional side, I was conflicted. A young life was being killed, and it was distressingly graphic – in sight, sound and smell.
“And yet there was a sense of majesty to see the lions – the king of the beasts – doing what we know they can do.
“It was more shocking than I expected because of the age of the cubs. They were inexperienced hunters, and so struggled to kill the giraffe quickly. The ordeal took almost ten minutes.”
While the mortality rate for adult giraffes is very low, babies aged under six months in the wild have a mortality of almost 50 per cent.
Dr Chu estimates the cubs were four to six months old, while the giraffe was a few months younger.
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He said: "It was a captivating moment that aroused diverse emotions in all.
“This process took an agonising nine minutes. Agonising, yet it is the intricate balance of the circle of life.”
Madikwe Game Reserve, located in North West Province, is home to the Big Five - lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant and Cape buffalo - as well as wild dogs and hundreds of bird species.
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