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<\/p>\nOne of the most powerful experiences I’ve had the privilege of witnessing in my 20 years of guiding happened in northern Botswana.<\/p>\n
It was 5:30am when I was suddenly woken up by the calls of male lions moving through our camp. I couldn\u2019t work out how many, but guessed there were at least four and they were moving fast whilst calling regularly.\u00a0 They continued calling and I assumed by their behavior that there was a territorial dispute. They were either chasing other lions out of their territory or they were responding to calls from another coalition of males close to their territorial boundary.<\/p>\n
I jumped out of bed, got dressed, shot out of my tent and ran down the pathway waking my guests. I made the decision to skip breakfast until our return and told them to meet me at the vehicle in 15 minutes. When the bush presents you with an opportunity to experience a potentially special wildlife moment, you tap into all your bush skills and instincts and make the most of it!<\/p>\n
I knew the general direction the lions were moving as I could hear their calls coming from the eastern side of camp. I had also picked up their fresh tracks on the pathway behind the guest tents confirming the easterly direction. Each call was getting quieter as the minutes passed. We climbed into the game drive vehicle hoping to locate these lions using their calls; else we would only have their tracks.<\/p>\n
Five minutes later, I stopped the vehicle and switched off the engine to listen. \u201cThere!\u201d I said as I pointed in a north easterly direction. \u201cThey are not far, maybe 300 meters away.\u201d They were moving parallel to the road we were on. I decided to drive past where I thought they were before heading north off road into the mixed woodland. We soon found a clearing, switched off the engine again, and waited. The next visual we all got was six male lions coming out of the woodland and into the clearing running straight toward us. This was definitely a territorial\u00a0dispute between these males however I couldn\u2019t yet figure out the make-up of the coalitions.\u00a0The six males continued past us and disappeared\u00a0into the woodland. I told my guests to hold on as we maneuvered\u00a0around fallen tree trunks, bushes and large leadwood\u00a0trees to get back onto the road. Not far down the road we spotted their tracks crossing to the southerly side of the road and into the Mopane scrub, a vast hinterland with barely any roads.\u00a0We had no choice but to follow their tracks stopping every now and then to listen out for calls. We drove off road once again and for the next half hour we followed their tracks which were changing from a scuff mark to more of a defined lion print. \u00a0They were definitely slowing down.<\/p>\n
Following tracks in mopane whilst driving is difficult as you can\u2019t always move through narrow gaps where lion can go. You have to relocate the tracks which sometimes means getting out of the vehicle. This process takes time and time is of the essence when tracking cats.\u00a0 Suddenly, we see three of the six lions walking calmly towards us panting heavily. This coalition of three males had come in contact with the other coalition of three males which were intruding into their territory and were chased out.<\/p>\n
We were all so pumped up with excitement!\u00a0 As the three lions walked slowly back towards the core of their territory, I started leap frogging them enabling my guests to photograph as they walked towards and past us. I then maneuvered towards a small clearing to find another good position.\u00a0I suddenly noticed about 40 meters ahead of us was a dark shape lying down in the shade of a single mopane tree. As we rolled forward the shape slowly becomes clearer and there panting heavily was a single male lion. I could only assume he was one of the coalition which was chased out. He obviously veered off and lost contact with the other two in the drama and decided it was safe enough to stop and catch his breath.<\/p>\n
I quickly assessed the situation and realized the trajectory of the three males would take them past this male lying down by only about 50 meters. There was a good chance they wouldn\u2019t see each other with the few termite mounds and the many mopane bushes which lay between. However, with the north easterly direction of the\u00a0wind, there was no doubt that the males would pick up his scent.<\/p>\n
Without disturbing him, I positioned the vehicle so we could watch everything unfold. I was beside myself, however still being respectful of my guests\u2019 feelings. I explained that there would be contact between the coalition of three male lions and the single male. It might be very intense, leading to possible injury or death. I gave them the option of pulling out of the sighting if they preferred not to watch. Everyone decided they wanted to stay.<\/p>\n
As the first of the three males approached the termite mound he suddenly stopped. This prompted the others to stop as well. He had picked up the scent. He turned towards us and walked up and round the side of the \u00a0termite mound. He paused momentarily as his eyes locked onto the single male lying down. The single lion was completely oblivious to the three male\u2019s presence. They began stalking him and when the lead male was literally on top of the single male, he reached out with one paw like a house cat about to paw a ping-pong ball. In one motion he latched onto his flank with his claws and sunk his teeth just behind his shoulder blades. The single male exploded and leapt to his feet to defend himself. As he faced one of the three males, another one attacked him from behind and bit into the base\u00a0of his spine close to his tail. They essentially wanted to immobilize him as just as they do when hunting large prey species by biting into his spine. They wanted to send a strong message, but he\u00a0didn\u2019t go down without a fight! \u00a0The single lion managed to get a hold of one of the three male\u2019s paws in his mouth. The noise of this war was deafening! Then the three backed off, growling and swatting their tails. Before we knew it another one attacked him again, and the fighting continued. These few minutes felt so intense, like an eternity.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Suddenly the three males backed off roughly twenty meters from the single male and laid down to lick their wounds. The single male was badly injured with puncture wounds all down his back and inside his thighs. He was covered in his own blood and I was pretty certain he wouldn\u2019t survive the day. Finally, the coalition of three males got up and walked off.\u00a0 As we sat there for a moment in silence I realized how privileged we were to witness this extraordinary event\u2026.alone. It was an experience that none of us will never forget!<\/p>\n
I’ve always said that going on safari can touch all your emotions on many different levels. After having watched in amazement and taken many photos, I turned to my guests and one of them was in tears. She asked me, \u201cWhy?\u201d I explained to her that for a pride of female lions to successfully raise cubs they need a stable male coalition to hold a territory for at least two to three years. If there is a high turnover of new males, the new males will kill any cubs that aren\u2019t old enough to get away, eradicating the genes of the previous male\/s. This will bring the females back into estrous, enabling them to sire their own offspring. One of the strongest things in nature is the drive to propagate one\u2019s genes and lions are a great example of this. The competition is immense! \u00a0This can be seen in the sexual dimorphism in the species. Males have large manes to intimidate other males and to protect them from the powerful blows which they inflict on each other.<\/p>\n
The following day we returned to the scene and found the single male lying motionless. Sadly, he had succumbed to his injuries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the most powerful experiences I’ve had the privilege of witnessing in my 20 years of guiding happened in northern Botswana. It was 5:30am when I was suddenly woken up by the calls of male lions moving through our camp. I couldn\u2019t work out how many, but guessed there were at least four and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":1303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n