Nail-biting footage captured at Norman Carr Safaris Chinzombo Camp in Zambia shows the dramatic showdown between a 1-year-old elephant and a pride of 14 hungry lions -- and the amazing way the brave baby pachyderm managed to survive.

According to the New York Post, a journalist named Jesse Nash and a group of companions had been on a game drive when they spotted the young elephant being surrounded and attacked by lions. The situation certainly seemed dire for the lone elephant, who at one point had two big cats on its back and another grabbing onto one of its back legs.

“Where are the other elephants, for God’s sake?” one worried voice can be heard shouting in the video of the encounter.

Incredibly, the baby animal ended up not needing any help at all, using a clever trick to keep his attackers at bay.

(Watch the elephant’s battle to survive in the video above.)