Seeing a pride of lions during the day was very lucky, their guide told them, and because they didn't have to be back at camp for a couple of hours, they might as well sit and see what happened.

"And nothing happened for 20 to 30 minutes," said David Budzinski, "but when I saw (a herd of) buffalo start to walk right toward the lions, I pulled my camera out."

For the next 8 minutes and 23 seconds, the amateur videographer recorded the unfolding life-and-death drama at a watering hole, centering on a baby African buffalo, six young lions, a 600-pound crocodile and a herd of 150 to 200 buffalo.

The video was shot in Kruger National Park in the northeast corner of South Africa in the fall of 2004, and Budzinski and his wife, Cheryl, of the Woodlands, Texas, mainly had shown it to family and friends.

But he also had given a copy to Jason Schlosberg and his wife, Donna Lombardo, of Arlington, Va., whom the Budzinskis had met that day on the safari.

Last year, when a friend asked to see the video, Schlosberg posted it on YouTube. The video, titled "Battle at Kruger," "took off on its own," said Julie Supan, a YouTube spokeswoman.

Several hundred thousand people watched it within the first few weeks of its posting, Schlosberg said. And like the nature event itself, the life of the video took several twists and turns.

Erik Nelson, president of Creative Differences, a production company, said a friend sent him a link to the video. "The moment I saw it, I thought it was, quote, the greatest nature clip of all time, unquote," Nelson said. "It unfolds as a three-act drama with the buffalo as a Greek chorus."

So Nelson contacted National Geographic Channel about making a documentary. The result is a one-hour special airing Sunday that tells the story behind the video; reunites the four travelers with their safari guide, Frank Watts, in Kruger Park at the site where the struggle had taken place; and provides commentary from wildlife experts.

One of the reasons the video is rare, Nelson said, is because it takes place in real time and is complete in its unedited form.

"And the grand finale is to watch the clip in all of its widescreen glory, technically enhanced," Nelson said. "It's not any less gripping to show it in its entirety at the end."

Nearly 30 million viewers had seen "Battle at Kruger" by the end of April, and it was named YouTube's best eyewitness video for 2007. To watch the original video, search "Battle at Kruger" on www.youtube.com or go to www.battleatkruger.com.