Pangolin fends off three lions in Gujarat

From the archive record

See how an ant-eating Pangolin defended itself from the lions in the Gir forest of India. The rare, armour plated pangolin had the perfect defence tactic:roll up into a ball and stay there - whatever happens. The hapless lion appeared confused by its spherical prey, as it batted the creature about with its paws and even tried to carry it around in its mouth. When caught by large predators such as lions they work their muscles into a cutting action to lacerate the mouths of their adversaries. The injuries caused can be serious for the animal attempting to eat the pangolin. Pangolins survive by using their sensitive tongues, which can grow up to 16 inches long, to probe ant nests and termite mounds to eat the insects inside. This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock f