Listening for the Lion Kill: Video

From the feeding frenzy of the four lions I saw last night, I hoped they wouldn’t finish the carcass completely and move off, I knew I had to get there as soon as possible in the morning. I crawled the vehicle in to where the lions had the wildebeest kill, first I saw two hyenas and wondered if they had a go at chasing the lions off, with that many lions it was unlikely. It looked more like they were waiting patiently for whatever scraps remained.

Further in the bush the lions were still there taking turns to gnaw on the remains. They were staring at me like I was a hyena, which sends their kill instinct into overdrive. What was left of that wildebeest was just skin and bone, but it was their kill and they weren’t going to let anyone else take possession of it.

So the four adult lions were as full as ticks and one… I couldn’t believe it, it seemed there was only one cub. Several attempts made by the adults at calling the young cub failed and so the lions began to move off. Lionesses aren’t the best mothers and can easily neglect their cubs, but it was just so strange that it was missing. Anyway, whether it would find its way back or whether it had been killed by hyenas no one knows, but we did have to do something about that snare. The little cub probably picked it up on the other side of the Chiredzi River where this pride frequently visits. The cub’s one eye was also looking like it had been gouged out, now I was in a hurry to get a team to sort it out.

There are the usual preparations to be done on the drug side so within the hour our people were ready to do what they do best. I followed the lions north west until they hit the Nyamasikana Riverbed. The embankment was really steep, in fact almost vertical, so I had to put my 4 x 4 skills to the test. The pride then followed the dry river until they rested, then climbed out the other side. I found an easier route out the river and met the lions on the top of the high cliff. There they stayed, which looked like it would be for the rest of the day, this made things complicated for darting. Easing our way in tight against the river bank, we tried not to disturb the lioness, but by the time we were close to the spot they were gone, only the three other adults remained.

I really wanted to get the little cub sorted so later in the afternoon I went back to the lions on the cliff. They were still in the same place and lazy as ever. The problem was, there was still no sign of any of the cubs. I retraced the path they took from the kill site and found the mother of the cubs searching the area and calling for the missing cub. The other lions came to join in the search, but to no avail. Eventually the lions disappeared into the river bed, who knows when we will see them again, and if by then it’ll be too late.