Newly born lion cubs are very vulnerable for a variety of reasons and one danger to them are male lion, including their own fathers. When lionesses loose their cubs, they go immediately into estrus and are ready to mate again. To keep their cubs safe, lionesses give birth away from the pride and only return to the pride when the cubs are strong enough to walk and keep up after about 6 to 8 weeks. This lioness was on her own, licking her tiny cub and as it turned out, the cub was dead. Licking a cub after birth stimulates breathing and probably instinctually she tried to make it breath again. She tried for a long time, paused and tried again, eventually she stopped licking and just stared out over the plains. Then she carefully grabbed the neck of her cub, got up and walked with it to an area with high grass. The cub had bite marks, very likely from a bite of a male lion. The lioness stopped in the long grass, put down her cub and stood there for a while, then lay down in the shade of nearby trees and spent the day with her cub. In the afternoon she walked over to her cub, licked it and just stood there, then reluctantly moved away to find her pride.
04/09/26 17:48
At the crack of dawn this male leopard was deep asleep when a female leopard was approaching the tree he was sleeping in. He was sleeping next to his kill and the female wanted a piece of it. The female was about 15 years old, which is remarkable, and she was struggling with hunting. She and the male leopard knew each other, as his territory overlaps the territories of the females, but male leopards do usually not share food. It is rather the opposite, male leopards do steal kills from females. However, the female was hungry and that was an opportunity to get some food. She stalked to the tree and hid in the high grass at the bottom of the tree, checking if there was any movement of the male. When she thought the moment was right she jumped up into the tree and passed the male, grabbed a piece of the kill, jumped down and ran off. The male was truly deep asleep, as he was so startled that his only response was a brief growl. All happened so fast that he was fully awake only after the female had already gone. He looked puzzled and decided to rest for a bit longer on what appeared to be a very comfortable branch.
10/08/26 18:35
While August is the high season for Mara River crossings of the big herds in the Masai Mara, there are year round small river crossings of resident herds of wildebeest, gazelles and zebras as they move within the Masai Mara in search for fresh grass. On a day in December zebras gathered at the river, feeding on the river bank, drinking from the river and waiting for more zebras to arrive. They were preparing to cross the river, waiting to be higher in numbers for more safety. The water level was very low and crocodiles were waiting, their heads above water, visible to the zebras. Despite the obvious danger, the zebras started to cross in single file from two points of the river bank and while heading to the same exit point they formed a triangle that enclosed the crocodiles. The crocodiles had to observe both sides, which was a slight advantage for the zebras. Crossing in single file formation also provided some safety for the zebras, as it is difficult to distinguish and target a single animal. But it is hard to cross in an ideal single file, as there are obstacles covered by the water that break up the formation. Normally a crocodile attacks from under water the swimming animal, grabs a limb and while rolling over pulling the prey under water to drown it. Although this is still deadly for the prey, it is relatively quick. For the zebras the low water level meant that they were walking through the river, not swimming, which gave them some advantage, but not for all. A crocodile singled out a younger zebra and attacked its back limb. But because the zebra was standing and not swimming it could not topple it and drown it. The zebra stood firm, the crocodile at its back limb. Other crocodiles joint in and when four crocodiles held on to all four limbs they managed to topple it and it drowned. When an animal like a zebra is physically restrained by a predator, they enter a state of paralysis know as tonic immobility, also called as going into a trance. This is a reflexive response during which they feel reduced or no pain due to a surge of hormones. While it was a dramatic and slow end for the zebra, it saved all others. The crocodiles were distracted and the rest of the herd made it safely to the other side. Some wildlife stories can be hard to witness, yet what stays is the memory of the bravery and resilience of the animals, which makes these memories even more special.
08/07/26 15:52
When a male leopard cub reaches adulthood, his father will not tolerate him on his territory anymore (there are rare exceptions to this) and the young male will need to leave to establish his own territory somewhere else. This is a dangerous endeavour for the young male leopard. His explorations will bring him into territories of other male leopards where he needs to juggle hunting, not drawing attention and trying to find out if there is an opportunity to establish his own territory. This young male leopard was on such a journey. He was constantly looking over his shoulder, constantly on the move and he was hungry. Because he was so nervous to be discovered by the territorial male, he discarded all rules for hunting. Instead of hiding and patiently stalking the impalas, he just walked towards the herd, hoping he would be lucky, but he was not. He kept doing that with all antelopes he encountered during the day and continued to be unsuccessful. At dusk he had established himself in a tree, waiting that a hunting opportunity would pass under the tree and he could just jump on it. A small antelope did pass, but noticed him crouching on the lowest branch, ready to leap, and ran off. He must have got lucky at some stage during the night. The next day he was happily feeding on a kill and enjoying a bit of a rest.
06/06/26 16:15
One of a male lion’s main tasks is to secure their territory, keeping out other male lion that might want to take over the pride or the territory or both. That involves patrolling the territory’s boundaries, marking by spraying bushes and trees and fighting off other male lion if they find them in their territory. Depending on the size of the territory this can be a difficult task and mostly the task rests on one male lion. When the territory is an island in the Okavango Delta and two brothers joined forces to control it, it could give the impression that their territory was safe from intruders. The brothers split the task of patrolling the boundary between the two of them to have a presence at different parts of it, spotting intruders early. While they were young their strategy worked very well. As they got older keeping up their dominance became more difficult. Splitting up patrolling between the two of them also meant that each brother would have to face an intruder alone and with age they were not always the winners of the fight anymore. When a male lion (male in the picture) from a neighbouring island swam over to their island to mate with with one of their females, he got into a fight with one of the brothers, which left him with a wounded face and ear, but he won and ended up mating with the female. These territorial dynamics are necessary to get new genes into a pride and keep lion populations healthy. The lionesses know that they need to mate with the new strong male to keep themselves and their cubs safe, as he might take over the territory and pride. Although the territory surrounded by water appeared to be safe and easy to guard, it proofed to be just as difficult as in any other area. Lion do swim.
