Amazingly when we arrived at the lion kill and there wasn’t a single vulture around. Was the cool overcast weather not good for flying? Had they found food elsewhere?
Soon after dark the winds picked up. And picked up and up! Trees were bending their bows almost touching the ground as the winds gusted over us. A storm was on the way and we prepared for it. I got my cover up ready to film the lions in the rain, but Darryl was left to brave it again.
Well it all just turned out to be wind! Not a drop of rain, but plenty of thunder and lightening. The lions kept feeding through it all. And kept feeding all night. When they left around 4am there was nothing but the skeletal remains of the carcass.
They drank at Lesililije spring and then rested up in the hills nearby.
Dawn at Nduna dam and a lioness came strolling along the shores of the dam. She was lactating so I presumed she was headed to her cubs in the hills close by. But then Nduna arrived on the scene showing a lot of interest towards her and staying right by her side.
And lurking in the bush was a young male from the Nduna pride. He too was interested in the lioness and Nduna was very aware of his intentions.
The lioness made no plans to head into the hills. Instead she seemed to appease Nduna. The signs of foreplay were evident but why would she be mating now when her cubs are still small? (I have seen this in leopards where a female mated about a month after giving birth.)
With her every move Nduna shadowed her and the other male too but in the distance. Nduna was being sure to keep him away from his lady.
These very pretty amaryllis flowers were blooming near the dam and I thought how fitting it would be if the lions lay down amongst them. Of course they didn’t read the script this time.
We left the 3 lions heading into the hills south of Nduna dam. (Not where the lioness has her cubs)
Back on Banyini we came across the giraffe that was having birthing problems. She’s just fine. Some afterbirth is hanging from her and she’s definitely got rid of the stillborn calf. We couldn’t find the calf though.
What a relief to see she’s made it. Nature has its way. (And thankfully we didn’t interfere as we might have put her down to prevent her going through all that suffering of what we thought was assured death. We really have to let nature takes it’s course. Imagine how wrong we would have been in this case?)
24th November 2000
This sure has been a 24 hours with a punch.
Tjololo was still courting the Newington female in the morning. We left them to it. And as usual they were still at it in the afternoon.
At dusk, Tjololo, now really lean, was hunting. He saw an adult female impala, but the impala had seen him too, never the less he charged in her direction presumably hoping to flush a youngster but there wasn’t one. He continued east hunting with his lady following after him. Much later in the night the winds had picked up considerably and again using the disturbance he killed a yearling male impala. He was quick to start feeding on the ground. A short while later 2 hyaenas charged in and he hurriedly treed the kill where he was able to feed freely.
For the last hour or so while he charged around on the trail of impala, the Newington female wasn’t with him not bothering to charge around after his antics. After tracking him down she eventually arrived and climbed the tree. Tjololo having fed was resting in the tree. She went over to entice him but he wasn’t interested.
She then fed and while doing so Shololwane arrived on the scene. Ignoring Tjololo he climbed the tree and proceeded to have a boxing match with the Newington female obviously himself wanting to feed. While they exchanged blows the carcass and the hyaenas got lucky. All this time Tjololo didn’t bat an eyelid.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/98/229173067_8c01bef165_m.jpg
Shololwane left the tree and sneaking up on the hyaenas was hoping to snatch the carcass back but they chased him off when he got too close. He waited.
Tjololo and his girl also left the tree and lying on the opposite side to Shololwane watched the hyaenas feeding. Shololwane again approached the hyaenas and again they both chased him off, but while they were occupied intimidating Shololwane, Tjololo snuck in and stole the kill and back up a tree. This time Tjololo decided to indulge himself again on the remaining scraps.
At dawn Tjololo and his lady were at it again in a donga.
Shololwane was lying up on a rock about a kilometer away, totally relaxed and spread out until his was suddenly awakened and instantly up a tree when a lioness approached. She watched him for a while as he tried to gain some confidence and then left to hunt impala.
A busy night for us and probably one of the busiest we’ve had on this project. The bush is always full of surprises. If we’d been working in the day time we’d have been none the wiser and thought Tjololo and his mistress hadn’t been up to anything, well except the usual, all night.
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