In surprising news, two brave teenagers from Zimbabwe fought off a charging lion bare-handed while protecting the cattle they were herding.
The two teenagers, Khulekani Ndlovu (16) and Njabulo Ncube (17), walked away with relatively minor injuries after the death-defying encounter with the lioness.
According to the daily publication The Chronicle, Khulekani was charged by the female lion, which was accompanied by its cubs, when he tried to protect his cattle which were under attack.
The 16-year-old suffered deep wounds to his left leg from the lioness’s claws. Khulekani would have been killed if it were not for his colleague Njabulo.
The 17-year-old somehow managed to scare off the lioness just as it was about to pounce on his friend. More incredibly, he did all this without any weapons.
Khulekani was later treated and discharged at Victoria Falls Hospital.
Narrating his miraculous escape from the lions, Khulekani told the publication,
We were sitting with Njabulo when we heard a cow making noises about 50 metres away. When we rushed to the scene, we came face to face with a lion attacking the cow.
“We started making noise to scare it away, and the lion abandoned the cow and turned on us. It charged at us, and we fled in different directions.”
“After running for about 50 metres, I looked over my shoulder and saw the lion gaining ground. I fell down and couldn’t rise as I felt powerless.
After noting that his colleague was in distress, Njabulo charged towards the lioness shouting at the top of his voice and shaking tree branches.
Incredibly, the female lion was intimidated and fled from the scene.
Njabulo later helped Khulekani, and the two teenagers made it home without further incident.
Local businessmen Morgen Ncube and Christopher Ndiweni then ferried Khulekani to the hospital.
Ncube, who was clearly shocked by the incident, told the publication,
Initially, when these two boys told me about the attack, I didn’t believe them until they explained to me and I saw the wounds. Njabulo has had similar encounters with lions, and he has saved cows from being attacked by lions on three occasions.
I have personally lost two cows. Our appeal to the Government is that it should try and protect people from these wild animals by reserving grazing land for us and driving away wild animals to another area.