During the recent school holidays, my husband, kids, and I spent ten days self-driving through Kruger Park, staying in the lower park’s camps. There is truly no better place than the bush to let your soul and mind unwind. In one of the camps, a fire caused a two-day communications outage, which was absolute bliss—no contact with the outside world.
And one early morning, my husband witnessed an incredible sight: three young lions attacking a buffalo herd, right next to the car. One lion stalked the herd and then launched a surprise attack, causing chaos and panic among the buffalo and singling out one of the bulls. The other two lions, in a coordinated effort attacked from the other side. Typically, lions go for the jugular, but buffalo necks are too thick. Instead, lions try to suffocate the animal by gripping its mouth and nose. One of the lions attempted this while the other two grabbed the buffalo's back and hind legs. The young lion struggled to get a good grip on the buffalo’s nose, likely due to his mouth not being fully grown. This resulted in a 45-minute life-or-death struggle. In the video, you can hear the bull howling and the lions growling to fend off excited, laughing hyenas who arrived at the scene.
The buffalo fought fiercely, eventually shaking off the lions. It came away with a bloody face and hind legs, but its head held high in confidence and aggression. And now on the offensive, he charged at the exhausted lions and at anything else in its way, including an Audi, which it struck with its horns, sending car parts flying.
The resilience and strength of the buffalo are remarkable. And it made me think that this encounter serves as a powerful analogy for security teams defending against multiple threat vectors, such as nation-state-funded crime groups and relentless syndicates. The hyenas represent opportunistic attackers—affiliates of crime syndicates, automated bots, and AI-driven threats seeking vulnerabilities.
Although the buffalo’s vulnerability is known to its attackers, its aggressive stance and resilience are crucial for survival. Similarly, security teams must stand their ground against attackers, demonstrating strength in cyber defenses and controls.
The increasing frequency and sophistication of attacks are akin to the coordinated effort of the lions. Just as lions create panic to isolate and attack their target’s weak spot, criminals use chaos to single out and exploit vulnerabilities. The hyenas add to the fear and distraction, of both victims and attackers alike, by creating challenges and competition. A typical example of hyena behaviour is the scammers that opportunistically took advantage of the Crowdrike incident last week and the globally ensuing chaos to advertise their fake updates and fixes phishing sites to target companies with malware.
Had the buffalo not panicked and stayed within the safety of its herd, the lions wouldn’t have been able to single it out and attack. This lesson applies to us as well—staying calm under pressure and working together is key to staying safe. In the end, the buffalo faced overwhelming odds but stood its ground with resilience, strength, and determination, something we can aspire to. It is also a reminder of the fierceness of nature and the beautiful country we live in.
Here is a clip of the final scene, taken by my husband's cellphone.
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