Against all odds

We had just set out from River Lodge to see if we could find the Ottawa Pride of lions that were left lying up near a dam approximately half a kilometer away from the lodge, called Shauna-Leigh dam. Within a few minutes Chris my tracker found fresh tracks leading to a nearby river, he suggested we check an area they had been visiting where there was a lot of shade; he thought they might have lay up there during the heat of the day. Chris was right; they were there, all 9 of them fast asleep. After about twenty minutes the two adult females decided it was time to move, with all 6 juveniles in tow and one of the six members of the coalition as a tag along, they set off down the road like a street gang. Every few hundred meters they would stop and listen, the male would scent mark and follow at a distance, amazingly they passed right by a huge buffalo bull fast asleep in a mud wallow that had no idea the lions were watching. We sat anxiously wondering if there would be a chase. Unfortunately the females decided it was probably too dangerous with the 6 one and half year olds around, the chances of an injury was way too high. After a few hundred meters the pride decided to rest until nightfall. Sitting under a star filled African sky we sat listening to the many beautiful sounds, Fiery-necked and Square-tailed nightjar calls dominated the night sounds. All of a sudden out of the peace and calm came the gut wrenching sound of lions fighting. A young male lion left over from a pride which recently perished in the area. He is approximately one and a half years old and is struggling to stay alive. He unfortunately wondered into the pride and now faced the challenge of his life. Both the adult females and some of the juveniles attacked him; amazingly the dominant male stepped in and chased the pride off him. We could not believe what we were seeing, Chris and I both thought he would be killed. Even more amazing was that he would not run away, instead he lay on his back in submission. The tactic worked, the pride with the adult male following close by left the area. The young male followed behind them and was periodically attacked by the pride that was again chased away by the male. We followed the pride for well over two hours and watched several more interactions. The two adult females then hunted and killed an adult male Impala. Unfortunately for them they were chased away by the dominant male who would not let any of the lions near him, except, the young sick male. We never saw if he had a chance to feed, but tracks the following morning indicate that he at least got the left overs. The pride later killed a Wildebeest where the young male was again seen nearby. Keep an eye out for updates.

Posted: Exeter Lodges by Craig Paulsen, Date: 29 March 2009