Stories through the lens
Peculiar Serengeti Lions
The Great Migration of Serengeti
We planned our visit to witness the great migration – it was March 2011.
It was in the middle of calving season, but rains were late. Serengeti was gripped with a severe drought. There was only one, muddy drinking spot for kilometres around, and all the animals were forced to pass through it.
The heat of the day started slowly to subside. We thought to make a last drive-around before heading back to the camp but found four lionesses. They were positioned a few hundred meters from the waterhole, and fast asleep. Or so they seemed to be.
We anticipated an action,
seeing it was the only waterhole in the area. After positioning ourselves closeby, we waited patiently. There was a possibility that nothing will happen, but we were prepared to take the chance that something could unfold. In nature, there is always that venture of luck, chance, intuition, and ‘reading’ the situation. We waited, getting crisp in the sun, while other tourist vehicles came and went.
There was a slight flicking of the ear … it could have been the chacing off a fly. But then the dominant female’s ear flicked again, she peeked with one eye but remained motionless. Soon after that, we noticed on the horizon a herd of wildebeest approaching the waterhole. They must have sensed the lions and suddenly stopped. We waited. After a while, because of their thirst, they threw caution to the wind and approached the water.
Like a flash, the lionesses perked up.
The chase was on!
Before we even realized, with blistering speed, the dominant lioness was amongst the herd. While running, with one mighty smack of her paw, she sent the newborn calf flying; then jumped onto the mother. The lioness brought the wildebeest down with a firm grip on her throat.
We watched the kill nearby with mixed emotions of sorrow, anguish and yet also adrenaline rush that did not allow us to put down our cameras.
But what we witnessed next was even more surprising.
The lioness moved to start sucking on the lactating udder of the killed female wildebeest.
The milk was visibly flowing over the flank and hindquarters as she was drinking and nibbling.
When finished drinking, she left the wildebeest uneaten and went to the dead calf to feast on it.
Meanwhile, the other three lionesses kept on hunting and brought down two additional wildebeest.
