Visiting game reserves in Africa can be a frustrating experience. Many a tourist will spend days on end trying to catch a glimpse of one of "the Big Five" wandering about its natural habitat.

Consider, then, how lucky a group of American tourists were to stumble across an all-out war between a pride of lions, a herd of buffalo and a crocodile at a watering hole in South Africa's Kruger National Park.

The episode labelled "Battle at Kruger" has become an internet sensation, after one of the tour group posted a home-made video of the scrap on the public-broadcasting website YouTube.

The video has been viewed more than 14 million times already, with weekend viewings running at close to 750,000 a day, making it one of the most watched clips ever on  the web.

Some wildlife experts were so stunned by the footage they were sceptical about its authenticity.

But the tourists have since come forward with the original tape, which shows a buffalo calf being attacked and mauled, first, by lions and later, a crocodile, before being saved in a heroic rescue mission by its herd.

Time magazine recently said the clip "may be the hottest upload in web history that doesn't include a naked famous person, or a politician saying something career-ending".

One of the founders of YouTube described the eight minute, 23 second video as his favourite clip of all-time.

National Geographic are now planning a documentary on the episode.

South African tourism industry figures are seeking ways of exploiting the internet phenomenon to further market Kruger, which is South Africa's largest game reserve.