This is the rare, almost confusing, moment when two lions quenching their thirst are disrupted by a seemingly aggressive terrapin who is not happy with any visitors in his part of town.
The one-of-a-kind sighting was captured by 30-year-old safari guide, Reggi Barreto, while on safari with a private guest near the Sand River in the MalaMala Private Game Reserve, Greater Kruger Park.
The tortoise first approached the male, swimming under its antennae to create discomfort. Surprisingly the big cat stepped back. The tortoise then used the same tactic against the female, causing it to retreat as well.
But the lion knew that the tortoise could not do anything about it, so he continued to go to the lake to drink more water, the turtle saw this and approached the lion again, this time the tortoise was more resolute and stretched his mouth. Its head snapped at the lion, and when the lion saw it, he got up and didn’t do anything to the turtle.
As we all know, the turtle has a very hard shell when in danger, it retracts its limbs and head inside no matter what the opponent does.
Turtles protect themselves in this way, so turtles are not afraid of an animal that threatens them, even the eagles that can pick up the turtle many kilometers to drop it down, they are not afraid.
The lion knows that the tortoise does not tolerate constant harassment, although the lion is the lord of the jungle, he still has to succumb to a small turtle with only his feet.
Thus, the tortoise successfully chased the lion out of its territory. The turtle showed great interest in this. It shows how small it is, but how powerful it is.
