Several of the buffalo ran at the lions and one of the big cats was thrown into the air on their horns.
The footage was captured by tour guide Jonty Bozas on August 22 as he was leading a group of tourists through the MalaMala Game Reserve in South Africa.
Herd answer buffalo’s distress call and charge at pride of lions
A pride of lions attacked a buffalo which was detached from its herd on the MalaMala game reserve in South Africa
A second buffalo charges the lions, knocking one of the predators flying with its horns
Tour guide Jonty Bozas said: ‘When they heard their fellow buffalo bellowing for help they came to the rescue’
During the safari, Mr Bozas saw a pride of nine lions stalking the buffalo.
The lions targeted a single victim, trying to bring down the large animal by jumping on its back while biting its feet and flanks.
It appeared that the struggling buffalo was going to fall victim to the adult lions until another of the herd, after hearing its distressed calls, charged in.
It smashed one of the big cats with its horns, sending it flying.
The violent reaction of the buffalo herd forced the lions into retreat.
Mr Bozas, from Hoedspruit, Limpopo Province, said: ‘The rest of the herd came to the aid of the buffalo.
‘The bulk of the herd had moved off by the time the lions managed to single out a buffalo bull but when they heard their fellow buffalo bellowing for help they came to the rescue.
‘The lions were not impressed by being chased off and tried to regroup and rally together to get another buffalo down.
‘We had spotted the herd of buffalo the evening before, and had seen the lions trailing them.
‘We decided to go out on morning safari super early the following morning and luckily we did as it took us a while to find the herd and lions again.
At one stage it appeared the buffalo was doomed because of the number of lions attacking it
When the rest of the buffalo herd charges in the lions are forced to retreat to safety
Jonty Bozas, 35, who filmed the encounter, said the lions spent four hours trailing the buffalo
‘As luck would have it, as we arrived the lions stretched, yawned and then got up and started to follow the herd again.
‘There were nine lions in the sighting and they were actively hunting the buffalo for about four hours. There is a lot of cat and mouse that goes on.
‘During the morning that was the second time that they had managed to get on the back of a buffalo.
‘There was a little bit more chasing done by the buffalo and the lions ended up lying up in a dry river bed before the herd continued to move in the opposite direction.
‘The lion that had been hit ran off before joining back up with the pride.
‘It is a radical sighting, and we were lucky that it happened right in the open and that I was able to see some cool footage was or is a huge bonus.’
After being shared online, many commenters calling the buffalo ‘lucky’ while others praised the ‘brothers to the rescue’.
One wrote: ‘Power in numbers. Very cool.’
Another said: ‘Wowzers! What an epic sighting. Just in the nick of time!’
One person added: ‘Oh I love this. Brothers to the rescue.’