Jo Ho Ho!!! Just back in time for Christmas and I’ve got my daughters with me for the next 5 weeks on their long summer holiday.
Actually I arrived back on Monday after many hours of driving through the night, but it still gave me time to get out in the afternoon and find the dogs at Nduna dam where Mark’s had them for the last few days. They soon dashed off to kill a female impala. (All exciting stuff for my girls.)
Then just as we were leaving Nduna dam at dusk some elephants came in to drink. It was Mandlovu and her family. They are all doing so well and Chipfongwe is becoming quite the boy! Also Mandlovu’s oldest daughter has a tiny tiny calf. I haven’t seen Mandlovu’s herd for a good 4 months, so what a big home welcoming!
We started back on our night shift last night following the Nyari pride. They were in the hills when we picked them up and seemed like they had plans on spending the night there. But soon before midnight they started heading east. We still didn’t have site of them in the hills as we followed by signal alone with no access up there.
Then suddenly we heard the commotion and the bellows. They’d caught a buffalo bull but how were we going to get in there. They were now in the ravines around the Nyamasikana River.
When I did eventually get sight of them through a small opening in the bush, I saw the 2 lionesses standing at the rear end of a buffalo bull that was already down.
The limited visibility forced me to take 4X4 driving to a different level. Eventually we found an opening and managed to get Mark in there too with the lights just in time to see Manyari tackling the bull by the muzzle. She was trying to suffocate the bull by closing its muzzle. This is usually easier than the neck that is so thick and more dangerous. But she wasn’t getting her mouth over the whole muzzle and the bull’s lower jaw was still free. This meant it could still breathe.
Manyari continued to chew and clamp down on its nose, the buffalo of course bellowing in pain.
For about half an hour Manyari clamped down on its nose until it eventually died. I’m not sure why it eventually died, as I don’t see how she was actually able to suffocate it.
It was another of those really gruesome sights, but again brings back reality to what life is all about out here.
And getting a first hand lesson on this all were my daughters. Lindy 12 and Penny 10. They found it tough to watch and although they said they couldn’t watch, they still did.
I know some people don’t want their children to see these things in films or books, but I believe it gives them a much more balanced outlook on life, especially when they’re seeing it for real. Those docile kitties, lions, that spend most of their time lying around just looking cute, suddenly take on a new meaning when seen in action like this.
The action didn’t last and the lionesses spent the rest of the night resting up and they were really well fed anyway.
And where are the boys? Missing out on the big one! No doubt they’ll rock up sometime in the next couple of days. Otherwise these girls could be feeding on this kill for the next 4 or 5 days.
How many large kills like this would be made each year by this pride? Is this a rare thing? Were the lions just lucky, or good at what they do?
I understand about some not wanting to watch, I am one of them. I always read what you have to say before clicking the photo then I decide if I want to watch or not. I know this kind of thing happens in the animal kingdom and I understand why but I just don’t want to see killing in any flilms.
Kim,
Mostly I fully agree with your statement, but this time (in case of children watching this scene) I do not fully agree.
I think it is age related; I have a son of four years old. How do I explain to him that Bambi is killed by the noble lion king? He does not understand this.
At this moment he is very afraid of crocodilians, now and then I have to explain to him that crocodilians are living in Australia-Asia-Africa and the America’s. And not in Western Europe.
At the age of 8 he has a better understanding of the world and I can explain to him that lions have to kill for their livelyhood.
Personally I do not feel much emotion watching this, a lion has no choice in choosing his diet. Only humans have a choice,
kind regards,
Douwe
I have to agree with Douwe; I think 10 years old is a bit young to witness something like this.
I was also wondering how the lioness were able to bring down what looks like a healthy bull; perhaps he had a broken leg or some other serious health issue.
Brendan: in some areas lions only kill buffalo. The Nyari pride will probably kill about one a month. once lions have become specialized buffalo killers they do it pretty frequently. but it does take skill. I’m not too sure how these lionesses managed to get this bull down initially.
Douwe: I’ve been very open with my girls on this sort of stuff right from the beginning and I really think this has helped them understand a lot about life and death. We tend to sanitize so much of our daily lives that when kids see something for real, they’re suddenly baffled as they’ve been led to believe differently.
my girls have seen lots of animals mating too. Explain that at 5 years old. but it all helps in them understanding that stuff when it becomes real to them.
Letting your children be exposed to the real world won’t always give them nightmares.
It’s similar to kids who grow up working on farms. They never have to have “the talk” where the facts of life are explained to them. They grow up with it in their everyday lives, and never have to question it.
10 is also a lot different that 4.
But there’s no manual for child rearing. To each their own.
Excellent sunset picture.
Kim,
This is hard for most to see, but it is the way of nature. To see a animal suffer is always hard, but we do not know maybe this buff was suffering in some way and that was how they we able to take him down. We know that this happens all the time in the wild we just do not always get to see what you have filmed and shared with us. If you can not watch don’t , if you do remember it is natures way. Life is hard it is all about survival.
Thanks for ” Swooping In ” all I can say is breath taking color. Very beautiful, thank you.
Of course it is good that kids are exposed to the real world, this is not questionable, but in our case my son has not the possibility to go out in the bush and see real time what is happening. And we do not have in our surroundings large predators. Here, the largest predator is the fox. Although, it might be that the wolf is returning to the Netherlands. In Germany several wolf packs are living nowadays in the wild.
What I am trying to say is, the distance between my kid and real nature is a large distance. He does not live on a farm. At prime time Kids Television it is all about cartoons, and not about Nature and predators. So it takes a lot of effort to teach him about nature.
Thanks for the info :o)