Both lions were males.

It is not often that one BAGS a brace of lions and a bull buffalo in about ten minutes.

It was an exciting adventure, and I shall never forget it.' "Such, my dear Livingstone, is the plain unvarnished account.
The buffalo had, of course, gone close to where the lions were lying down for the day; and they, seeing him lame and bleeding, thought the opportunity too good a one to be lost.
"Ever yours, Frank Vardon." In general the lion seizes the animal he is attacking by the flank near the hind leg, or by the throat below the jaw.

It is questionable whether he ever attempts to seize an animal by the withers.

The flank is the most common point of attack, and that is the part he begins to feast on first.