Moment lion ambushes lone giraffe by jumping onto its back

This is the moment a lion clambered over the back of a lone giraffe in an attempt to bring the animal down.

The footage captured last week (January 18) in Kruger National Park, South Africa shows the giraffe being attacked from below by numerous lions while a more agile female jumps onto its back.

After a lengthy chase, the giraffe got away, according to the filmer, a local safari guide.

It was "probably one of the best sightings I've had in my career guiding in the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve," he said.

He explained: "We came across a pride of lions having a bit of a snooze. After a couple of minutes watching the lions some of them finally decided to start moving off.

"After following them for a bit we spotted an old giraffe bull, which was unaware that a pride of lions had their eyes set on him After a couple of minutes, which felt like an hour watching these lions, the chase was on.

"The adrenaline we had watching this happen was just incredible, having the opportunity to witness this amazing sighting happening in front of our eyes," he added.

"We raced in behind the lions, watching them grab the legs and one female jumping on the back of the giraffe trying to throw it off balance. We saw the giraffe run for about 400 meters without the lions on his back, realising how incredibly powerful this animal is.

"With some luck, the giraffe was finally able to get the lions off his back and for about five hours the lions tried getting on him again with him just stomping away fighting these lions.

"Eventually, the lions gave up very exhausted with the mighty giraffe walking away to live another day."