Wild animals are born with an instinct to not mess with anything bigger or more dangerous than them.
And while they might have more power in the water, when it comes to the animals out on dry land, turtles are pretty much at the bottom of the food chain.
When approached by a lion, most animals would have turned and got away as soon as possible. Lions are skilled hunters and can capture just about any prey they want.
It’s no surprise that they take the title of “King of the Jungle”.
Wild lions are often treated with respect and fear from the other animals. But at a watering hole at the Mala Mala Game Reserve, one little turtle didn’t seem to have got the memo.
The turtle wasn’t happy about two lions taking a drink from his watering hole, and in a move that could be seen as courageous or just plain stupid, he does his best to shoo them both away.
The footage was shared by Kruger Sightings, and it begins with two adult lions approaching the watering hole for a drink.
Their chins are tinged with blood, so it appears that they’re stopping to hydrate after a recent kill. Is there anything more threatening than that?!
Apparently, the turtle who lives in the watering hole isn’t in the least bit bothered by the blood. All he wants to know is why these two lions think they’re allowed to just barge into his home!
Not only are the lions in the turtle’s personal space, but they’re also drinking from the water that he enjoys swimming in.
The turtle is naturally quite irked by this. Who knows when it will next rain, and if the lions drink all of his water, then what’s he going to have left to swim around in?
For this poor turtle, he faces a constant daily battle of trying to chase others away from his watering hole. Can’t the other animals get a bit of respect?
In the moments when you see red, it doesn’t matter if the person is bigger or stronger than you, or whether or not they have another person’s blood on their chin.
All this turtle cares about is protecting his watering hole, and he’s sick of the other animals thinking that they have a free pass to use it whenever they like.
As the male lion dips his head to take a drink, we see the murky water begin to ripple. Moments later, the turtle’s head pops out from the water, and we can’t help having a giggle.
Despite the fact that the lion could end the turtle’s life in one quick chomp, the turtle shows no fear as he pushes his face up close to the lion’s mouth as if he’s trying to confront him.
The turtle carries on with his intimidation tactics until amazingly, the lion moves away from the watering hole.
He may simply just be done with his drink, but in the turtle’s head, he’s won the battle. Next, he moves onto the female lion and tries the same tactics with her.
At one point, the female lion even licks the turtle as she drinks- and he still isn’t fazed! The quicker he can get these greedy lions away from his watering hole, the better.
Eventually, both lions are nicely quenched and leave the watering hole, leaving the turtle feeling accomplished.
“It was an incredibly rare sighting for me to film — watching the terrapin approach the lions that had blood on their chins from the zebra,” Barreto said about the footage they captured.
Watch the video for yourself below.
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