This was taken from Ranger Diaries, one of the pages 'liked' on Facebook.
This diary entry took place at Moremi, Botswana.
Every tourist coming on safari to the continent of Africa wants to see the magnificent lion, the King of the Jungle. The iconic force of Africa: a big male lion, its dark mane and its immense power and authority, those eyes staring emotionless at you.
The lion (Panthera Leo) is the second largest living cat after the tiger and the big males weigh about 220kg. Lions are the most sociable cats of all. Lions are often seen as cruel, powerful, bad tempered, strong, mean and tough. But take a closer look and you will be amazed by their highly complex and caring dynamics, as seen by my guests and I in Moremi, Botswana.
We were setting up camp on the dry outskirts of Moremi. We heard a loud, bulking noise filled with something unusual. Was it panic, was it fear? My immediate thought was that it could be an old distressed `dagga boy` (buffalo bull). I shared my thoughts with my group of guests and they were visibly upset. What was happening to this animal?
After camp was set the noise echoed through the bush again, but this time it was a bit softer, as if the massive animal was getting tired and weak. I sensed the animals pain. I hurried my guests into the truck and we headed into the direction of the strange sound. It must have been about twenty minutes after we heard the first call.
A dramatic scene unfolded before our eyes: a pride of lions, nine females and one young male, were pulling down an old Cape buffalo. It must have taken those lions about twenty minutes to take the last breath out of the old and struggling beast. Many guests thought it was sad, but I understood it is a way of survival: one has to die, for another to live.
The pride was exhausted after the long, life enduring battle, but their eyes glowed with a sense of achievement. The pride was young, and inexperienced. For them to take down a mean-tempered 900kg bull was a huge achievement. After they settled down to feast, I saw a tenth lion, but she was weak, old and almost grey in colour. Lions can live for well over 14 years in the wild, and she seemed past that age. I saw her one eye white in its socket, blinded. She was a walking skeleton, her ribs showing, her hips protruding and her one ear was hanging down. Often male lions eat first, then the females. This old female had not participated in the hunt, instead she remained motionless, camouflaged in the long grass until the hunt was over. As soon as the buffalo gave up his life, the whole pride started calling in a very low frequency, their soulful contact call, and slowly the old female came from the long grass! Wow!!! When she appeared, something remarkable happened. They let her pass through and she was allowed to feed first!! She started feeding as if she hasn`t had fed for weeks. They allowed her to fill herself, and then after a while they joined in. We named her Silver Eye not only for the blind eyeball for the fierceness still evident in her gaze.
As we watched the pride of young lions feasting together I wondered about what we had just witnessed. Hungry lions with a huge meal that had stepped aside for another to feed.... It was the driest time of the year and food was scarce for all. This pride stayed the whole night, almost consuming the entire carcass.
We returned the next morning and found the old female lying motionless next to the carcass. One guest pointed to her gaunt frame and said that she has probably eaten too much, and was still sleeping. Lions are known to be very lazy creatures, especially after a big hunt like this. I explained how lions laze around after a big feed, fascilitating digestion, and that she in particular needed to rest due to her age. As time passed and she still hadn`t moved, I became suspicious. It was not until the young male went up to the female and tried to push her up that I realised that she was dead. Her life as a fierce lion was over. Lion and buffalo lay dead side by side.
Why did the pride wait for her to feed first? Did they know she was dying, were they trying to save her? Did they care for her until the very end, allowing her to share her last meal? Animals have a secret way of dealing with feelings and emotion, and to us it will always be a mystery.
This diary entry took place at Moremi, Botswana.
Every tourist coming on safari to the continent of Africa wants to see the magnificent lion, the King of the Jungle. The iconic force of Africa: a big male lion, its dark mane and its immense power and authority, those eyes staring emotionless at you.
The lion (Panthera Leo) is the second largest living cat after the tiger and the big males weigh about 220kg. Lions are the most sociable cats of all. Lions are often seen as cruel, powerful, bad tempered, strong, mean and tough. But take a closer look and you will be amazed by their highly complex and caring dynamics, as seen by my guests and I in Moremi, Botswana.
We were setting up camp on the dry outskirts of Moremi. We heard a loud, bulking noise filled with something unusual. Was it panic, was it fear? My immediate thought was that it could be an old distressed `dagga boy` (buffalo bull). I shared my thoughts with my group of guests and they were visibly upset. What was happening to this animal?
After camp was set the noise echoed through the bush again, but this time it was a bit softer, as if the massive animal was getting tired and weak. I sensed the animals pain. I hurried my guests into the truck and we headed into the direction of the strange sound. It must have been about twenty minutes after we heard the first call.
A dramatic scene unfolded before our eyes: a pride of lions, nine females and one young male, were pulling down an old Cape buffalo. It must have taken those lions about twenty minutes to take the last breath out of the old and struggling beast. Many guests thought it was sad, but I understood it is a way of survival: one has to die, for another to live.
The pride was exhausted after the long, life enduring battle, but their eyes glowed with a sense of achievement. The pride was young, and inexperienced. For them to take down a mean-tempered 900kg bull was a huge achievement. After they settled down to feast, I saw a tenth lion, but she was weak, old and almost grey in colour. Lions can live for well over 14 years in the wild, and she seemed past that age. I saw her one eye white in its socket, blinded. She was a walking skeleton, her ribs showing, her hips protruding and her one ear was hanging down. Often male lions eat first, then the females. This old female had not participated in the hunt, instead she remained motionless, camouflaged in the long grass until the hunt was over. As soon as the buffalo gave up his life, the whole pride started calling in a very low frequency, their soulful contact call, and slowly the old female came from the long grass! Wow!!! When she appeared, something remarkable happened. They let her pass through and she was allowed to feed first!! She started feeding as if she hasn`t had fed for weeks. They allowed her to fill herself, and then after a while they joined in. We named her Silver Eye not only for the blind eyeball for the fierceness still evident in her gaze.
As we watched the pride of young lions feasting together I wondered about what we had just witnessed. Hungry lions with a huge meal that had stepped aside for another to feed.... It was the driest time of the year and food was scarce for all. This pride stayed the whole night, almost consuming the entire carcass.
We returned the next morning and found the old female lying motionless next to the carcass. One guest pointed to her gaunt frame and said that she has probably eaten too much, and was still sleeping. Lions are known to be very lazy creatures, especially after a big hunt like this. I explained how lions laze around after a big feed, fascilitating digestion, and that she in particular needed to rest due to her age. As time passed and she still hadn`t moved, I became suspicious. It was not until the young male went up to the female and tried to push her up that I realised that she was dead. Her life as a fierce lion was over. Lion and buffalo lay dead side by side.
Why did the pride wait for her to feed first? Did they know she was dying, were they trying to save her? Did they care for her until the very end, allowing her to share her last meal? Animals have a secret way of dealing with feelings and emotion, and to us it will always be a mystery.
