This lion should have immediately went out and purchased a lottery ticket after narrowly surviving this swim across a river filled with crocodiles. The escape is miraculous. There’s no other way to describe it.
After surveying the water and deciding that the coast is clear, a croc pops its head up from out of the water and thinks it has a nice meal swimming into deeper waters. It quickly chases after the lion, who has no idea what is about to happen.
At the very last second, as the crocodile is going for the lion’s exposed neck, the lion notices something coming up from behind it. As the croc tries to bite down on the lion, the lion somehow manages to slip out of the croc’s grasp.
I’ve watched the clip several times now, and I still don’t know how it doesn’t include a death roll. I thought for sure the lion was finished.
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Realizing it can now touch the bottom after the failed attack, the lion starts to run away as the crocodile gives up. The croc took its shot at grabbing dinner and came up empty.
While the lion should do whatever it can to extend its hot streak, the croc has to figure out what went wrong. Everything was on track until the moment of truth.
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Look at how close this is. That lion might as well be served up on a platter here.
I don’t know how it escaped, but I wouldn’t bet on the lion making it across the river many more times when faced with similar circumstances.
Watch the footage, which was captured during a safari, here. It’s as close a call as it gets out in the wild.
It just goes to show that a little bit of skill and a lot of luck can go a long way. Even in the middle of a river with a crocodile trying to rip your head off.