Daily Archive for December 19th, 2007

Lion and buffalo 22hr ordeal: Video

It just doesn’t stop. From about 9pm until now it’s been raining. And it doesn’t look like letting up.
I was hoping to check up on the lions and buffalo bull at dawn but the rain just wasn’t letting up.
It was only in the early afternoon that Penny and I managed to venture out in a slight drizzle. We worked the area I’d left the lions in last night but there was no sign, as all tracks had been washed out by the rain.
I then got a radio call to meet someone on the airstrip just to the north of where I was searching. We were chatting when the same calls I heard yesterday came to us from the west.
The 2 lions had again downed the buffalo bull. He was lying on his chest while the lions tore away at his rump. With our approach the nervous male moved off. The other lion continued to feed.
It was now 22 hours after the lions had first caught the bull last night and he was still alive.
When the pain got too much the bull rallied and only just managed to get to his feet with the one male lion still hanging on his tail. Realising he wasn’t getting anywhere the lion suddenly released his hold and went for the bull’s Achilles tendon downing the bull.

Still dying
For the next 20minutes so the lion had the bull on his side while he ripped away at its front leg. He then rolled the bull onto his side and was going for the stranglehold on the throat but the bull got the better of him and managed to get up and see the lion off.
The bull was in a bad way and soon lay down again. The lions too lay down about 40m away. Both parties were exhausted.
But the lions knew this guy wasn’t going to get away and were prepared to wait. 2 hours later they were still waiting and we left them be.
I wonder now if the bull will survive another 22 hours?

Tjololo 18th December 2000

The Tjololo Diaries

18th December 2000
Temperatures are soaring, 36 degrees C, and the rain still stays away. The bush is still very green and grass very long but at least it’s dry that we can get around wherever Tjololo goes, although in the next few days I think we can expect a major storm.
Still well fed Tjololo was lying up on Kapen Rocks. He did eventually move east. Picking up the scent of another leopard he was calling, meowing and chuffling moving back and forth on the scent trail. I expect it was the scent of the White Cloth female and her cubs.


Tjololo eventually gave up and headed on east. Lining up on 2 young male impala he wasn’t able to stalk the last few meters as he ran out of cover. With the impala standing there chewing the cud Tjololo lay down and waited. But after some 10 minutes he lost his nerve and dashed in. The impala were quick off the mark and got away until in the panic of the moment one of them crashed through a bush. Tjololo was quick to take advantage of its mistake and soon had killed it. He treed it down in a donga.
Already well fed he had a few mouthfuls and rested up in the donga for the rest of the night.