Brave Mongoose Takes On Pack Of Lions, Old Video Goes Viral

A video of a mongoose intimidating a group of lions in the wild is raking in likes on social media. The undated video shows a mongoose going up to the lions and hissing at them. The lions appear unnerved by the mongoose and move back. This clip was recently posted on X on January 7. So far, the clip has gathered thousands of views. Commenting on it, a person remarked, “We could all learn a lesson in courage from this mongoose." Another person wrote, “Important lesson here! Never back down and never be afraid to stand up for yourself. I mean, you still may get eaten, but at least you’ll have some pride. No pun intended!"

The above-mentioned clip is a portion of footage taken by wildlife photographer Jérôme Guillaumot in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve in 2011. In 2014, Guillaumot posted it on his YouTube account.

While talking to National Geographic, Guillaumot said that this was the first time he had seen such behaviour by a mongoose in 20 years of his expeditions in Africa. He recalled, “I was sure that the mongoose would not escape this fight. As always in this type of situation, it’s a mix of excitement to see such a rare behavior and grief and empathy for the expected death of the small one. But what’s most extraordinary is the fierce defense of the mongoose and how its determination made it possible to face its opponents and eventually escape."

Jenni Sanderson, a research fellow at the UK’s University of Exeter, who is known for his research on mongooses, told National Geographic that it is likely that “the mongoose has some pups in the den, and that could be why it is fighting so hard to scare the lions away". He explained that even small animals get “strangely aggressive when they have young to protect".

Sanderson also pointed out that lions in the footage were quite young and it looked like they were ‘playing’ with the mongoose and not trying to hunt it. He added, “I imagine that if the lions wanted to kill and eat the mongoose, then they could, quite easily."

Sanderson mentioned that mongooses can get very aggressive and said, “Mongooses may look and act cute most of the time, but underneath that they are very strong and can be very aggressive when they need to be."