A King or a Usurper!!

AFRICA.......a land prolific in its natural charm, where countless stories are told every single day. Stories that constantly remind us how little we understand Nature, its inhabitants and their lives. Fortunately,  the protected wildlife areas allow us to absorb increased amount of animal behavioral showcased, thanks to the influx of wildlife enthusiasts into these wildernesses and its subsequent reach supplemented by the widespread social media platforms. One such interesting trait that often leaves us wondering is interaction among animals. Be it their own species or a different one. This is a tale of once such day where I was lucky to encounter many such interactions in a single day in the Kruger National Park in Southern Africa.

It was September and the the overcast weather had started showing the onset of Summer intermittently. The Common Impalas are seen in great numbers in Kruger and they are generally among the first few types of animals you sight. My case was no different as I came across scattered herds of Impalas within minutes of entering the park. Minutes trickled into  an hour as time gradually passed with me seeing herds of Zebras, Wildebeests and Impalas every now and then. Eventually, I came upon a clearing where I had good visibility and a puff of dust caught my eye.  Rutting Impala Rams!!! Occasionally, chasing each other and goring the rival when caught up with him. Not sure about the females but the guys surely grabbed my attention!

Impala Rams battling it out for the best mating rights.

Another 20 minutes into the drive and as I drove along a dry river bed, I came upon a congregation of a few vehicles. I instantly got busy looking into the river bed, as whatever it was, it was in there. As I approached the vehicles and the bushes that had obstructed my view so far cleared, I saw two brothers, brothers who probably ruled a pride or two as a coalition, Lion brothers!!! Of all the Lion sightings one has, about 80% them are when these felines are stationary as Lions, especially the males spend most of their day lazing around and patrolling their territories which can be a huge area to cover. A lion pride may consist of anywhere between 6-20 members ruled by one or at times two males. The Male Lion in the pride is responsible for keeping the pride, and especially the cubs, safe from other Lions and rarely participates in the hunts, unless it is a supersized meal like a Buffalo or a Giraffe. In return, the females in the pride are responsible to hunt and feed their protector. In case if the pride is a large one, it is ruled by two or more males who work together to takeover a pride. Although at some distance and in no mood of changing their positions, I got a pretty decent shot of this duo. I spent about 30 odd minutes watching them and eventually decided to make a move as it was quite evident that the brothers were in no mood to do so.

Interestingly both these males had an impaired eye.

Things can quickly get doozy on a game drive, especially the afternoon one, if one has had heavy food. At such times one has to find solace in a beetle rolling a dung ball across the track or Vervet monkeys showing off their antics or a Leopard Tortoise moving around to find a shade. Herbivores crossings can come in handy at such times as they keep you engaged physically as well as mentally. On this occasion as well I was stranded for a good 10 minutes when a large Buffalo herd decided to exercise their right of way and crossed the track right in front of me. These giant herbivores are known for their nervous disposition and it is always best that they are observed from a distance. No wonder they prove worth nemesis for even the mighty Lions.

Roadblocks like these are a common sight in Kruger and keep you engaged even on a dull day.

  
With the last of the herd members crossing over, the track was once again clear for me to continue as I turned onto a gravel road. A few hundred meters past, I came to a clearing where there was an open field with a few stunted bushes around. I drove past a small water body to arrive at a stunted bush on the right and my eyes lit up. A big Male Lion, lay there underneath the bush on the other side and unlike the brothers I had seen in the morning, was well within a few meters. Luckily ,there was a designated track just around that bush and I could position myself in a decent spot. It was now the time to wait for the moment. He was laying flat upside down on his back and although he lifted his head a couple of times while I was positioning myself, paid little heed to the couple of vehicles(by now there was another vehicle by my side) around him.

Lions are very much like your pet at home, sleeping in pretty bizarre positions.

It was a battle of patience now as it is no secret that patience holds the key during such situations and that is what makes all the difference in the end. About an hour passed and vehicles around me came and went by as majority of them waited only about a few minutes before continuing on their way. There were a few who would wait a bit longer but eventually give up. Finally, as if the the almighty was pleased by my penance, the King of the beasts got up. Although he continued to be seated, he had his head up for me to, now release my shutter.

Watching a Lion, a big male, so close isn't an everyday affair

 As I kept clicking my way into the beast's eyes another hour rolled by. Suddenly,  a couple of Elephants loitered out from the bushes on my far left. They were headed for the same water body I had driven past before seeing the Lion. The gentle giants were probably here to cool off as an Elephant needs to eat approximately 200 kilos a day. This is due to their poor digestive system as close to 70% of what they eat is excreted directly. Hence, if you have happened to come across Elephant dung, you would have noticed it has an appearance of grass spheres. Hence, whatever little time they are left with is spent drinking and cooling off by bathing. Not always do they find water to bathe in and mud proves to be a worthy substitute at such times. Here, however the Elephants had water to cool off and they were having a gala time at the water hole.

Elephants love water and spend a lot of time at a water hole when not foraging for food

Let me quickly reiterate the whole scenario now. Here I was in my vehicle waiting at, what was like a round about, with the Lion in the center of this roundabout under a bush and a couple of Elephants diagonally on my left about 50 meters away. There was a vehicle track right behind the Lion, the track that was a part of the whole circular route around the Lion. Another 20 minutes passed and having had their fill and spraying some of the water on their bodies, the Elephants decided to make a move. Just when I thought that the Elephant show was over, I realized that they had started walking along the track, the same track that ran behind the resting Lion. The thicket, who’s shade the Lion was relying on so far, was not big enough to conceal him and a confrontation was on the cards. In the wild Elephants hate Lions and would grab any opportunity to unsettle the Big Cats, so much so that they can even kill them if given a chance and the Lions know this fact very well. The first Elephant by now was fast approaching the Lion and moments later was about to get agonizingly close, but it suddenly changed its track and moved off the vehicle track and away from the Big Cat. Probably without even noticing him, the Elephant walked off minding his own business. I was surely gutted because, in my head I had already visualized a conflict between these two iconic African mammals and the reality was very different.

Typically having two of the most iconic African mammals in one frame was a dream sight, but a human mind alwys wants more!

But the second Elephant, probably a bull and definitely bigger than the first, had other ideas. As he approached the bush where the Lion was stationary, he trumpeted aggressively as he sensed the Big Cat. He moved in closer and charged at the Lion as he could see the Big Cat now. Swiveling his huge head up and down, flapping his large ears and hurling his trunk towards the Lion, the Elephant made his intentions very clear. For those who have witnessed this Elephant behavior in the wild would exactly know how scary this sight is.

The Big Elephant Bull was not at all pleased to see the Lion and made his intentions pretty clear.

The Lion knew it was now or never for him, and decided to flee. As the Big Cat rose, he headed straight for my vehicle and crossed it from the rear side to hide in the outcrop on my left. I was now bang in the middle of the  probable route the Elephant would have taken, had he decided to follow the Lion however thankfully the big guy was just happy to have scurried the cat. Having made his point absolutely clear about who the real boss was,  the Elephant continued on the same route the first Elephant had taken.

Even a King has to flee when he meets a gigantic opponent

Having just experienced a riveting encounter, one that a lot of us enjoy on our television sets relaxing, from our comfortable living rooms, I had goosebumps. Being there amidst that skirmish was a very special and somewhat intimidating feeling that once again established the fact that, it doesn’t matter if you are the King of Beasts, you gotta flee if you have a 20 times larger rampaging giant charging at you. Mother Nature has a seemingly cruel yet an extremely necessary law, and every day out here is a struggle because you can only survive, if you are fit for the wild and no matter your size, predator or prey, there are no exceptions to this. The Lion had a lucky escape and I had an even luckier experience!!!

Images like these could be misunderstood as the Lion's hunting behavior...but on this occasion he was just trying to stay out of harm's way!!