Unbelievably they were at it again last night.
The Nduna pride rested up till after midnight before heading south to Lojaan dam for refreshments and rested up on the shores.
There was fresh evidence of a buffalo herd having moved through the area but being well fed I thought it was unlikely the lions would show any interest.
Obviously I under-estimated Manyari’s hunger for buffalo. She was soon on their trail for half a kilometre before resting up.
Shortly afterwards we heard the buffalo not too far off. It sounded like they were under attack by lions and one was caught. The Nduna pride didn’t budge but Manyari did start calling softly. There was no response.
Not able to contain herself Manyari led the pride into combat. The got the herd to panic and stampede. In the mass chaos one of the young male lions plucked a calf from the herd. He very quickly had his strangehold in place muffling any sound from the calf. This meant the herd was unawares of the calf’s fate.
So successful was this lion in muffling the calf’s death cries that the rest of the pride were slow in getting to the kill as they hadn’t heard anything.
Seemingly with little desire to feed the lions settled in slowly to their meal.
For this calf death came relatively quickly, about 5 minutes, and it was lucky not be eaten alive over that period.
Then out of nowhere Nduna arrived and moved straight in to the kill. The pride made way for their king. He too was well fed.
Even so it didn’t take long for the lions to be squabbling over the carcass. The noise brought the buffalo herd back. But they never chased the lions off. They approached to within about 30m and stood there waiting the night out.
Only at dawn did the buffalo move off. By now Nduna had laid claim to the remains of the carcass while the rest of the pride could only lie around and wait for their king to finish.
When a young female tried to help herself to Nduna’s carcass, she was given a serious hiding by him. Not that he was starving.
When their turn came, even with massive stomachs, they still fought tooth and claw over the remaining skin and bones and polish it off they did.
Unbelievably they were at it again last night.
The Nduna pride rested up till after midnight before heading south to Lojaan dam for refreshments and rested up on the shores.
There was fresh evidence of a buffalo herd having moved through the area but being well fed I thought it was unlikely the lions would show any interest.
Obviously I under-estimated Manyari’s hunger for buffalo. She was soon on their trail for half a kilometre before resting up.
Shortly afterwards we heard the buffalo not too far off. It sounded like they were under attack by lions and one was caught. The Nduna pride didn’t budge but Manyari did start calling softly. There was no response.
Not able to contain herself Manyari led the pride into combat. The got the herd to panic and stampede. In the mass chaos one of the young male lions plucked a calf from the herd. He very quickly had his strangehold in place muffling any sound from the calf. This meant the herd was unawares of the calf’s fate.
So successful was this lion in muffling the calf’s death cries that the rest of the pride were slow in getting to the kill as they hadn’t heard anything.
Seemingly with little desire to feed the lions settled in slowly to their meal.
For this calf death came relatively quickly, about 5 minutes, and it was lucky not be eaten alive over that period.
Then out of nowhere Nduna arrived and moved straight in to the kill. The pride made way for their king. He too was well fed.
Even so it didn’t take long for the lions to be squabbling over the carcass. The noise brought the buffalo herd back. But they never chased the lions off. They approached to within about 30m and stood there waiting the night out.
Only at dawn did the buffalo move off. By now Nduna had laid claim to the remains of the carcass while the rest of the pride could only lie around and wait for their king to finish.
When a cub tried to feed alongside Nduna she was heavily reprimanded by him.
When their turn came, even with massive stomachs, they still fought tooth and claw over the remaining skin and bones and polish it off they did.
10th September 2000
We’re beginning to wonder if Tjololo hasn’t been attacked by a virus again. Although he moved a fair distance last night covering his southern and western river boundaries he did so at a slow pace resting up frequently. The one time after resting for about an hour he moved about 10 minutes before resting again. But then soon after this around dawn he moved for a couple of hours in the river and I was lucky to film him walking tentatively through some shallow water. Like all cats he didn’t want to get his feet wet but had no option and gingerly he put each foot forward hoping it wouldn’t sink into the water.
Early in the evening when he was out of reach in the reedbeds, in the distance we faintly heard a constant low bellowing and went to investigate. About 3kms away we heard 2 hippos fighting in the reeds but they stopped just before we got to them. We did get to see one of the contestants and he was a bloody mess with major wounds around his neck and shoulders. We don’t know if he was the victor or loser as both animals would probably have sustained such wounds. Hippo although grazers, also have 4 teeth about a foot long and these are sharp and do major damage. These hippo bulls were probably fighting over territory.
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