Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Lions of Lamai


Well, the last few days have been full of excitement around Lamai!

We have had 5 sub-adult lions living in and around camp.  They have been hunting every day and so far, to our knowledge, have killed 3 wildebeest and 2 zebra so are very well fed, with very large round bellies!!

A couple of nights ago we were woken up by a rustle in the grass next to our house and, expecting to seean inquisitive hyena, we shone our torches out of the window and saw 2 young lionesses lurking outside in the grass.  They were soon joined by another three. 

We listened and watched for about an hour.  One of the females lay down on top of a rock close by while the others set out to trample and flatten the grass around them.  At first we thought they were making a comfortable bed on which to rest, but it was soon apparent that they had something else in mind!

They had found a plastic container and a cardboard box lying around camp and, although we heard all the noise, we didn't know what it was until the following morning when we went to investigate and found the box in tatters and the plastic container nicely chewed up with rather slimy lion slobber all over it!

Early this morning the lions were in camp again - this time however, they kept the noise down and only startled a few unsuspecting staff members during early morning wake-up call!

These five youngsters are nearly the same size as full grown lions, but still with adolescent spots and pink noses. They have obviously just been kicked out of their pride and are now trying to find their footing and place in the Lamai area.

One thing is for sure though... they are doing very well finding food on their own!






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