Whether they are stalking a buffalo, all shoulder blades and rippling muscles, lethargically padding within meters of the vehicle or even lying flat on their backs with their legs in the air, lions evoke a kind of awe. You may even say they exude a sort of regal arrogance, which has dubbed them with the title, “the king of the beasts”. Experience has taught me differently, however, and in my opinion, we have a very different boss out here.
A few weeks ago I sat watching the Tsalala pride as they lay lazily grooming and lounging in the early morning sun. Not much was happening and we could tell that the furthest they were planning to move was into the closest patch of shade. That was until the boss I speak of, an elephant bull, strolled around the corner behind them and I smiled knowing that we were in for a treat. Immediately his ears came out and he lifted his trunk, drinking in the air, to confirm that it really was his biggest foe, lounging around before him. As soon as he was sure, he accelerated and came charging in the distinctive sprint-walk of an elephant; all ears and legs and gangly trunk but surprisingly silent. One lioness, apparently feeling that unexplainable sensation you get when someone is watching you from a distance, or maybe feeling the ground reverberate beneath her, spun around to see the bulking shape looming. She turned and sprinted, with the rest of the pride right behind her. As if to show the lions that he really meant business, the elephant then went and gored his tusks into the ground and rolled about where the lions had been lying, demonstrating what he had planned to do had he caught one of those unsuspecting pride members. This was the first of three sightings in which I saw elephants chase this pride in the last month and I’ve started to think elephants have it in for the Tsalala lions in particular.
The Tsalala youngsters enjoying a mid morning nap.
The moment the lions realise that this elephant really does mean business.
The slower members of the pride, bounding to catch up.
The elephant bull showing the lions exactly what he had planned to do with them had he caught them. He actually got down on his knees, backside in the air and gouged his tusks into the ground and rolled around in the area the lions had been lying in.
The third sighting happened in the north of the reserve, where the lions were enjoying a peaceful morning after finishing up a small impala carcass. Some of the youngsters were being groomed and were romping around and the scene was relatively calm until the shape of an elephant appeared over the top of a ridge crest. I prepared my guests and we readied ourselves for the show. Once again, the elephant had a run at the lions but this time they chose a fallen over Marula tree as their escape route. The elephant seemed to accept this until the lions began to relax and lounge about on the tree and it seemed the elephant obviously hadn’t done a good enough job of scaring the enemy. He therefore ran in one more time, creating havoc and lions poured off the branches of the Marula, rushed through the clearing and ensured they created proper distance between themselves and the elephant this time.
One of the youngsters being cleaned by its mother during a calm morning in the north of Londolozi.
The havoc caused upon the approach of the elephant bull.
The lions fleeing in all directions.
One of the lionesses maneuvers in amongst the branches of the Marula tree she has seeked safety in.
The youngsters relaxing down again and settling in against the broad stem of the tree.
The final sprint as the lions run from the elephants for the last time.
A few years ago I found the body of a young lion that had been trampled by elephants. From the tracks we could tell that the pride had been sleeping in a thicket, much the same way the Tsalala pride had been, when a herd of elephants happened across them. Because the area was so thick and the herd was large, one of the youngsters became separated from its pride, got trapped in the chaos and was killed as a result. Although, the Tsalala pride got away in this particular situation, this battle between two of Africa’s greatest beasts serves as a swift reminder to all of us, that arrogance and nonchalance have no place out here in the bush. As wildlife photographer, Heinrich van den Berg has written, “royalty runs the risk of losing not only perspective. Many a life and tail have been sacrificed for the sensation of authority”.
Written and Photographed by: Amy Attenborough
Great sequence Amy! Very interesting.
Love the stories.!!!
great work Ms. Kate
LM
Wonderful to see the interaction between these incredible animals. Glad the Tsalalas took this threat seriously. That elephant bull really meant business (part that really impressed me was him stabbing his tusks in the ground)
Yes, very interesting Amy, and love the photographs! Two of my favourite creatures, so I love to hear about the interaction between them. Thank you so much for the really good and informative blog!
These pictures are so wonderful that I would book a holiday at Londolozi immediately if I had not already booked my 2015 holidays.
I love your newsletters and pictures!
KING OF THE BEASTS
I enjoyed a lot the pictures and I’m taking the time to give farther information about the king of the beasts relationship with the elephant. Few people know that some lion prides are elephant hunters specialists. Elephants will have the advantage in day time. Lions gets in hunting mode at night. There are in the internet several articles or images from Youtube showing lions killing elephants. Like the National Geographic said THERE ARE NO ANIMAL SAFE FROM LIONS. Thousands of years ago in Mesopotamia a land of the Caspian tiger, brown bear, leopard, hyena and the Persian lion (same as the Asiatic lion). Kings had kept in captivity all these animals and organized battles. The lion was proclaimed “the king of the beasts”, the same in the antique Egypt, Greece, Rome and other nations. In the land of the Bengal tiger in India, the lion was regarded as the king of the beasts too. The expression “king of the jungle or king of the forest” comes from India resulting of a bad translation from the British. The lion is still the national emblem of India today. Old Indian texts speaks about lions hunting the Indian elephants too. Considering his unsurpassed courage and fighting skills, the size of the lion comparing to the elephant, the mighty lion deserved his title “KING OF THE BEASTS”.
Because you see Lions running from an elephant, don’t make this fool you. Lions are not stupid. In other occasions we do see an elephant running from lions. An African elephant could be 30 times bigger than a full-grown male lion. Nevertheless Lions do occasionally kill elephants and it was reported not so long ago a few adults too. If you watched many videos, you may have noticed that the elephant even the biggest will often hesitate when facing a full-grown male lion. Studies show that elephants would react when they ear the roars of male lions not the lionesses. In general elephants would fear lions the most at night when there are in hunting mode. Now if we compared the sizes of both species pound for pound, the lion is truly the king of beasts. Some lion prides became specialized in elephant hunts, others in giraffes, cape buffalos even hippos. The National Geographic said that NO ANIMAL ARE SAFE FROM LIONS.