A large lion’s patience paid off after he waited for an oblivious hyena cub walking toward him in South Africa. (Potentially disturbing video below.)
Footage posted Wednesday on the wildlife platform Latest Sightings showed the young hyena strolling on the road as the lion watched from the brush.
The big cat bided its time before sprinting and pouncing on his unsuspecting prey down an embankment. The edited clip shows the lion emerging with his kill and then leaving it behind.
“Despite our initial impulse to intervene, we knew that interfering would disrupt the natural balance of the environment. So we watched on with heavy hearts,” Tanisha Rach, a 20-year-old student who shared the video from Kruger National Park, told Latest Sightings.
Some YouTube viewers wondered why a young hyena would be alone, but a Latest Sightings spokesperson told HuffPost that the cub was likely just exploring the area as they do when they get older, and that the den site could have been close.