Even the King of the Jungle knows when he is outgunned, and facing an entire herd of buffalo, this lion made the wise decision to leg it.
The brilliant pictures showing an absolutely terrified lion with dozens of buffalo hot on his heels, were captioned on the Masai Mara in Kenya by two photographers on safari.
Initially, the buffalo were approached by a lioness from the male lion’s pride, but before she could attack the bovine, the herd noticed the presence of the hunters.
Run for your life: A lion legs it for all he has got when a herd of buffalo charges after him on the Masai Mara in Kenya
Moving as one, the herd turned on the lion and his lioness and began running towards them to chase them off.
The lioness appears to have sped off out of sight, but the male lion, not accustomed to running neither after or in front of his dinner, is left behind with terror in his eyes.
Laurent Renaud and Dominique Haution captured the hilarious reverse hunt while on safari in the Masai Mara National reserve, Kenya.
Mr Renaud, 55, said: ‘You could see the fear in the lion’s eyes.
‘When we pulled up, the cats were just lying in the bush. But buffalo don’t like lions being nearby and they turned on them quickly. The lions didn’t need a second invitation to flee and they got out of there sharp.’
No dinner for you: A lioness from the male lion’s pride had preyed on the buffalo, but they soon ganged up on the predators
You herd me! Although lions are dangerous predators who often target buffalo, they have no chance against an entire herd of beasts
Time to go: The buffalo start to charge towards the lion and he is forced to run across the Masai Mara to save himself
Speed up: The lion runs out of shot as he tries to escape a pointy end at the mercy of the buffalo’s horns
Still hungry: The defeated lion is forced to retreat without dinner after being chased by the buffalo
A cowardly lion was forced to hide up a tree after a herd of buffalo it was hunting decided to turn around and chase it away.
The lion clung on to a branch after it bungled an attempt to stalk the herd in Masai Mara, Kenya.
When the buffalo saw the lion approaching, they turned around and chased, forcing it up a tree for hours.
Photographer Olav Thokle, 54, from Norway, captured the moment the king of the jungle was forced to scamper to safety.
He said: ‘Suddenly the buffalo became aware of the lion’s presence. He saw a lonely tree on the great savannah and climbed to safety from the big buffalo. He stayed in the tree for nearly an hour, before the buffalo herd left the area.’
A cowardly lion was forced to hide up a tree after a herd of buffalo it was hunting decided to turn around and chase it back
The lion clung on to a branch for hours after it bungled an attempt to stalk the herd in Masai Mara, Kenya,in the unlikely images
It joined four lions who are nicknamed the Black Rock Boys in following the herd of 500 buffalo, creeping closer in a bid to catch their prey
After the buffalo saw the lions approaching, they turned around and chased, forcing one lion up a tree for hours
Photographer Olav Thokle, 54, from Norway, captured the moment the king of the jungle was forced to scamper to safety
The hunter becomes the hunted: The herd of buffalo in the savannah decided to turn around and chase away the lion who was creeping up on them
Wounded pride: The lion clambered up the tree and perched in a branch for hours as the buffalo remained around the predator
The cowardly lion peered down at its prey from up high, unable to return to the ground for fear of an attack by the herd of buffalo
After spotting the angry buffalo herd, one of the scared lions desperately scampers up a tree to safety
The terrified lion in the Masai Mara clings to a tree after escaping an angry herd of buffalo who turned on it during a chase in the savannah