I set out this morning wanting to cover some distance and get a lock on those dogs; however, I was sidetracked when I picked up Manyari’s signal. She was roaring yesterday at sunset and we could hear her from our house just up from Malilangwe dam. I had seen her tracks coming out of the hills, but only to find her going into some dense vegetation. It is difficult to tell just how thick and accessible the forest actually is. Anyway, if you’re getting to know me, you’ll know what I was thinking, “Oh well, let’s just do it.”
I had not gone 500 meters and found Manyari on a Buffalo kill. She hadn’t even begun feeding on the large buffalo cow and Manyari was panting like she had just finished suffocating it. No sign of the males and Manyari was still looking pretty full – hey, these lions are doing their own thing!
One last swing past Banyini and Nyari Pan was the order of the day, to let the photos tell the story and I’m hoping to catch the wild dogs later in the afternoon.
Kim found the dogs resting in the hills earlier in the day. Kim is enjoying a few days off, but one can’t seem to keep him out of the bush!
Dramatic pictures - stark……
I really marvel that a lion, one who isn’t even particularly hungry, would take the incredible risk of singlehandedly bringing down an apparently healthy-looking buffalo. Especially when there is so much easier game afoot right now.
The buffalo must have let her guard down and Manyari seized the moment, among other things.
In the past you’ve said (if memory serves) you’ve “picked up Manyari’s signal”. But she isn’t wearing a collar. Does she have some sort of implant?
Mark!
She is a killing machine. I wonder how long it took her to bring the buffalo cow down. I am also wondering why the buffalo herd did not come back to save her. It would have been easy, just one lion and many of them.
Iva