“Who dares to disturb me while I am eating”? This particular male had decided that lying in the shade of our rear wheel gave him respite from the heat as well as peace from the rest of the large pride that was feasting on a fresh buffalo carcass just a short distance away.
Lions are notoriously lazy and once they have killed they will not travel far for several hours, or days, depending on the size of the kill and the distance to water.
In this case, we found them in this spot every day for the 3 days of our stay and on our final morning, we followed them as they crossed over to a neighbouring property.
It seems that both the males and the females close their eyes when burying their faces into a carcass. And that is exactly what this female is doing…and not blind as was first suspected.
An interesting fact is how quickly lions of any sex and size can clean themselves of the blood and gore of the feast that they have been enjoying.
A face that any mother would love.
This pride had several cubs that varied in age from those who were not yet weaned to those who were already eating solids.
Lip-smacking…
With so much meat on a buffalo of this size, it was not unusual to find that all the good bits are the first to be favoured and what is then discarded is left for the vultures, hyenas, and the rest of the bushveld ‘clean-up’ crew.
Did you know: Buffalo can weigh anywhere between 425 to 870 kg, so there is plenty to go around? All that will be left after the lions are finished is usually skin, hooves, horns, and bones. Many of these leftovers are then enjoyed by all those, large and small who come in to clean up afterward.
And you think your house cat has impressive claws?
Time for a nap? Just one of the youngsters that kept me entertained.
So much so that it ended up…
On the cover of a magazine! “I am ready for my close up Mr. De Mille”! To download a copy and read the full story on the back page, use this link: https://www.wildlifecampus.com/About/WildlifeCampus_Magazine_October_2021-Vol.10.pdf
Almost all gone, so the vultures moved in and the pride moved away.
This was on our final drive and we spent the rest of the morning trying to relocate the animals.
And we eventually did…
Leading the youngsters away from the remnants of the carcass and off to new adventures.
You can see the difference in the size of the offspring.
Why this male decided to lie out in the open, with no protection from the wind is beyond me.
However, who am I to judge. Perhaps he felt safe in this exposed position as he could keep an eye open for potential danger?
A final close-up before the entire pride vanished across a road to an adjacent property that we did not have traversing rights on.
But three days of incredible sightings on both morning and afternoon drives. Could one ask for more? I don’t think so.
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