The Battle at Kruger

Posted on August 13, 2007

Sometimes amateur videos can generate quite a following. The Battle at Kruger is an amazing 8-minute video shot by US tourist Dave Budzinski at South Africa's Kruger National Park. The video has been linked to by over 3,000 blogs according to Technorati. The video shows a complex battle between a lion pride, a herd of buffalo, and 2 crocodiles at a watering hole. You can watch the video below or view it on YouTube.com.

The BBC reports that the video is fast become one of the biggest web video hits.

An amateur video of an amazing animal confrontation on the African savannah is fast becoming one of the biggest hits on video-sharing website YouTube.
The footage first shows how several lions attack a group of buffalo, snatching a buffalo calf.
As the lions wrestle with a calf by a watering hole, a crocodile joins in the battle, pouncing on the buffalo.
The lions win the tug-of-war, but then the buffalo herd returns, chasing away the lions and freeing the calf.

The current count for the Battle at Kruger on YouTube is over 12.5 million views. What's also interesting is the broad international viewership of the video. If you click on the little honors link on the YouTube page it shows the video has been popular all over the world including Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Poland and Brazil. This international viewership is clearly helping the video generate so many views. The video is also rapidly moving up YouTube's all-time viewed list. The Battle of Kruger is currently 31st on the all-time viewed list. It still has a ways to go to catch Judson Laipply's Evolution of Dance which has over 55 million views.