Hyenas relentlessly harassed two lions until they gave up their kill in Kruger National Park in South Africa on July 12.

“We arrived at a watering hole where a pride of lions killed a buffalo two days earlier,” the filmer explained. “There were only two female lions still at the carcass. There wasn’t much left of the carcass and the lions had been keeping the pestering hyenas at bay.”

“The two lionesses were surrounded by over 20 hyenas and clearly outnumbered,” the filmer continued. “The rest of the lion pride already gave up and moved away from the action.”

“The hyenas were harassing the lionesses with their mock charges accompanied by their noisy giggles, yelling and whines,” the filmer said. “Suddenly, one lioness had enough, jumped up and charged towards the scavengers furiously while growling nonstop. The lioness eventually realized that she was risking her life and suddenly decided to turn back and run towards the other lions.”

“Immediately, the hyenas went and claimed the leftovers of the kill,” the filmer said. “One lioness roared one last time before the lions finally decided to turn around and let the hyenas take over the remains of their kill.”

The bad blood between lions and spotted hyenas runs deep, and is one of the most celebrated rivalries in nature. Their gory competition over carcasses on the African savanna has been memorialized in numerous wildlife documentaries. We were fortunate enough to witness a classic example of this bitter rivalry during a safari in the Kruger National Park. We arrived at a watering hole where a pride of lions killed a buffalo two days earlier. There was only two female lions still at the carcass. There was not much left of the carcass and the lions have been keeping pestering hyenas at bay for the past two days. The two lionesses were surrounded by over twenty hyenas and clearly outnumbered. The rest of the lion pride already gave up and moved away from the action. The hyenas were harassing the lionesses with their mock charges accompanied by their noisy giggles, yelling and whines. Suddenly the one lioness had enough, jumped up and charged towards the scavengers furiously while growling nonstop. The lioness eventually realized that she was risking her life and suddenly decided to turn back and run towards the other lions. Immediately the hyenas went and claimed the left overs of the kill. One lioness roared one last time before the lions finally decided to turn around and let the hyenas take over the remains of their kill.