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Cause Of Mystery Cape Buffalo Stampede In Kruger National Park Revealed [Videos]

By Anne Sewell
Published on: 22:36 PST, May 17, 2016

Last week a video went viral, showing a Cape Buffalo stampede in Kruger National Park. Tourists were caught up in the excitement as the herd crashed into their vehicle, almost turning it over. Since then, the cause of the stampede has been revealed.

Reportedly, the herd of Cape buffalo was approaching a waterhole near Satara, in the Olifants Camps of Kruger National Park, when the incident happened.

As can be seen from the video, at first the buffalo were ambling along, totally unconcerned, but suddenly they changed direction, stampeding and wreaking havoc as they ran on the tar road, slipping and sliding as they went and crashing into the white sedan driven by tourists. Fortunately the passengers in the car escaped the incident unhurt.

In the video, we can hear an Afrikaans family, who are parked on the road, discussing the herd of buffalo and their surprise when the animals suddenly stampede.

As reported by the Independent Online, at the time of the incident, the cause of the stampede was unknown, but a further video has since been uploaded, showing exactly what happened. It turns out a couple of lions were responsible for spooking the Cape buffalo herd.

The latest video shows two lions, obviously in stalking mode, creeping along the ground. The tourists who took the video wonder what the lions are up to, when suddenly they realize a herd of buffalo are heading onto the scene from the right hand side of their vehicle.

The camera pans to the right to show the buffalo, at first ambling along towards the water hole, quite unconcerned. The herd suddenly scents the lions, just as the big cats start making their move. The Cape buffalo herd immediately turns tail, stampeding away from the scene in a panic.

The video was recorded by Penny Osborne on the H1-4 road near Olifants and was recently uploaded to the Kruger Sightings YouTube account.

Luckily for the herd of buffalo, the two male lions involved didn’t appear to be too serious about taking them down, and the animals did manage to escape unharmed.

In related news on The Inquisitr:

While no human or animal was hurt in this latest incident, according to the Endangered Wildlife Trust‘s Wildlife and Roads Project (EWT-WRP), Kruger has recently seen an increased number of fatal incidents involving wildlife. This has reportedly outraged wildlife enthusiasts who believe the increase is most likely caused by speeding drivers on the SANParks roads in Kruger National Park.

However, according to EWT-WRP, who has been collecting on-the-ground roadkill data on several roads in protected areas across South Africa since 2010, they believe a lack of observance from drivers is just as deadly as speeding on the park’s roads.

One thing is for sure, the latest incident shows that motorists and tourists in Kruger National Park need to remain alert and patient at all times on the roads as situations can literally change in an instant.

As The Inquisitr reported last year, even safari guides are often in danger when interacting with wildlife in Kruger. A graphic video of the incident was recorded just outside Skukuza Camp in Kruger National Park, and the footage captured the exact moment a leopard attacked the safari guide.

While the tourists were driving through the park, they reportedly spotted the leopard and stopped. The tourists then lost sight of the leopard for a moment, but suddenly the cat launched itself at the vehicle, grabbing hold of Curtis Plumb’s arm and refusing to let go. Luckily, Plumb was wearing a bush jacket at the time, as his injuries from the leopard attack could have been far worse.

Probably the best advice when on a safari tour is to be constantly aware of the wildlife on the roads, keep the vehicle’s windows closed and your arms safely inside.

[Photo via Flickr by Clive Reid, cropped and resized/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0]

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