Checking out the possible new accommodation?
Looking every inch the King of the Jungle in the fading afternoon light, this young male was inspecting this abandoned self-catering camp in the reserve that I was visiting.
As he seemed to be relaxed in his perambulations, I assumed that this was not his first (or last) visit.
As any real estate agent will tell you that when you look for a property it is all about ‘location, location, location’ and this seems to be relevant for the animal kingdom as well.
The abandoned buildings in this instance were near a waterhole which would have attracted prey species, so why should a pair of lions NOT choose to make this their new holiday home?
So, it was interesting for me as our vehicle rolled to a halt close to the building to find these two lying in the shade near an outdoor fireplace.
The male seemed to be very relaxed and the female was being coquettish and playful, possibly as foreplay to mating or post-coitus…we never actually were able to confirm either of those activities.
The guide did tell us that the camp had been vacant for almost the whole of lockdown and the lions certainly looked like they could have been there for some while.
Buildings, if left to their own devices with either crumble and vanish or will deteriorate to a point that human habitation is no longer practical or economic.
It is often at this point that other species can try to move in and repurpose the dwelling.
It seems that this was the case with this duo of lions that were looking to set up home in what seemed to be a disused game lodge that we came across during a drive recently.
I don’t believe that we humans appreciate how big full-grown lions, both male and female, actually are until we have a situation where we can compare them to a structure whose size we can understand and comprehend.
Unlike bears, and luckily for the owners of this property there are no bears in South Africa, who will tear into an abandoned cabin that is not properly protected, lions have no such capability and all this male did was stroll purposefully around the building, trying to peer into the windows and perhaps looking for an entry point.
The female, on the other hand, chose to leave him to his own devices and sauntered towards our vehicle and proceeded to flop down in the soft sand close to where we were parked.
After looking at us with the feline version of ‘bedroom eyes’ she decided that a nap was an option and soon her soft rhythmic breathing could clearly be heard as she lay dozing near our front wheel.
We continued to sit for a while, watching the sleeping pair until we noticed that we had been joined, at a safe distance, by a tower of inquisitive giraffes.
They watched the lions while we watched both species wondering if the status quo would be broken and if so, by who.
As the light was fading it was decided to leave them to their own devices and go off in search of a spot for sundowners.
The male, possibly upset at not being able to gain access to any of the buildings came to join the her and he too decided that as we did not pose a threat, sleep was an alternative to constant vigilance.
I have not been able to discover if the camp has re-opened or if the lions eventually gained entry or not.
But none of that is really important, as for all of us, humans in the vehicle and the animals we were watching it was just another day in Africa.
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