When buffalo attack: The three lions manage to bring down the calf - but are charged by the herd of buffaloAfter tracking a herd of Cape buffalo through the scorched African bush, these three young lions finally managed to bring down a calf and were prepared to strike the killer blow.
But they had reckoned without their prey's furious relatives... all 300 of them.
These incredible pictures show how the 1,500lb buffalo charged the lions away from the calf and then tried desperately to revive it.
But with ferocious roars the lions returned, charging their massive adversaries as the calf changes hands nearly 11 times in 35 minutes.
Eventually the herd realised the calf has been killed and gave up their fight to save its life.
The incredible scenes were captured on camera by Kent Lawson, 65, who was on safari with his wife at Kings Camp in Timbavati Private Nature Reserve, near Kruger National Park, South Africa.
The software entrepreneur said his party was so close to the action the lions actually used their open-topped Land Rover to hide behind when the buffalo charged.
Mr Lawson said: 'We felt that this whole thing was going on right on top of us, the lions would hide at the back of the Land Rover when they were charged, it was kind of amazing.
'It really was a sense of awe, I have been to Africa before but this was the first time I have seen anything like this. It was such a jaw-dropping experience and I was just trying to take it all in.
'One minute we were watching these lions hunting quietly and slowly and majestically and then all Hell broke loose.
'We came across this scene of incredible violence and tension and confrontation.'
Mr Lawson and other tourists had been tracking the three lions through the African bush before the action unfolded.
He said; 'These three males are well-known to the park because they are unusual in the way they cooperate so well together.
'Usually a male will try to acquire a pride and use that to hunt, but these three are working together to hunt kind of like a group of bachelors.
Desperate battle: After driving the lions away, the buffalo attempt to revive the calf by nudging it'There were eleven changes of control of the calf and there was even a time when the lions went for another Cape buffalo.
'It was all faints back and forth between the lions and the buffalo and there was such an amazing amount of power demonstrated by both.
'It sounds bad but we believe for most of the time the calf was still alive and that's why the herd was trying to rescue it.
'At the end some very large buffalo that came up and saw the lions off before seeing the calf was dead.
'Our guide said these were the big enforcers of the herd and if they had been there at the start the calf could have been saved.
'They were frightfully large, the size of their horns is just absolutely massive, and both the lions as well as the buffalo would run right up to the Land Rover.
'Buffalo are thought to be the most dangerous animal in Africa, they kill more people than any other.
'They are pretty smart and if they feel they are being abused by the humans they will circle around and attack the humans from the rear.'
Kent, who lives in Connecticut and New York with his wife Carol said she hopes to capture the moment herself in a painting.
He said: 'She said to me at the time 'this is going to be a painting', she is an artist and has painted great scenes before from Africa of giraffes and elephants at a watering hole.
'Before the hunt these lions were so majestic in the way they were standing and then incredibly playful, gentle and affectionate with each other.'
Snatched back: The buffalo eventually abandoned the calf after realising it was dead, leaving the lions to their feastsource: dailymail
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