Blog #13: Tree-lounging lions and “ordinary” lions
Most of the lions I have seen in the wild were on my first trip to Africa in 1988, sometimes a dozen at a time. Many of those were hanging on the fringes of the great annual migration of 1.25 million wildebeest, 250,000 zebras, and thousands of antelopes that traverse the Serengeti. We were traveling in a roadless part of the Serengeti. When our truck crested a hill, we stopped and looked in awe for nearly an hour as we could see the stream of animals coming from many miles south going past us as they traveled north. I got out and took a couple pictures (including one with a hyena in the foreground) with my crummy camera. We slowly drove through the stream of animals; the stream first bent away from us and then went behind us as we progressed. Not far beyond we saw a pride of well-fed lions (see picture) and, beyond them, some cheetahs.
Hyena waiting for an opportunity with the annual grazer migration. Serengeti, Tanzania (1988)
Lion pride well-served by hanging near the wildebeest migration. Serengeti, Tanzania (1988)
Injured zebra, undoubtedly due to lion attack, in Kruger National Park, South Africa (1997)
Lions don’t always win in the lethal match between predator and prey. You can see from the picture that there are two slashes on the backside of mama zebra, undoubtedly from a recent lion attack. Oxpeckers on zebras are common, being attracted by insects, but the large number here are undoubtedly due to the huge number of insects drawn to the zebra’s wounds.
Lion near Lake Magadi, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania (1988)
I have a feeling of joy when I remember listening to the (distant!) roar of lions or “laughing” of hyenas at night while camping out on various trips to Africa, e.g., Klasserie Nature Reserve adjacent to Kruger National Park, the Serengeti or the Masai Mara. It is good to know that there are some places and animals that are still wild (although the number is dwindling).
One time, my wife was driving and I was sitting on the opposite side as we slowly drove on a lonely dirt road in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, which is a very large park straddling the border between Botswana and South Africa; it borders Namibia on its west side. The South African park used to be called Kalahari National Park until 1999 when the two governments agreed to join their adjacent parks without any obstructions for the animals. I was leaning out the window following some recent lion prints on the edge of the dirt road. I hadn’t realized it, but my wife was doing the same on her
Lion in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Nossob area near Botswana border. South Africa (2001)
side of the car with a separate set of prints. My set veered off the road, so I said “stop” at the same time I saw a female lion about 3 meters away. She stopped quickly because “her” lion was only about 3 meters away from her. While we were startled, having been preoccupied by looking solely at the ground for prints, the lions were unperturbed. They simply walked away.
On our last trip to Africa in February, 2018, my wife and I were fortunate to see six of the approximately 15 rare tree-climbing lions asleep in the candelabra trees and another three of them nearby under a tree in high grass in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda. We were fortunate because only two months later, in April, 2018, eleven of them, including all eight cubs, were poisoned to death by at least one irate farmer. This is just one more example of the problem of competition between humans and lions for space to live – while the human population increases, the lion population decreases.
Lions sleeping in candelabra tree. Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda (2018)
In recent years it has been reported that at least one pride in the Serengeti and a couple prides in South Africa have been seen climbing in trees as well. So much for the thought you could just climb a tree to escape a charging lion!