Three vehicles were sitting watching two Birmingham males and three Ntsevu females as dusk fell, hoping they would get active.
A bit of grooming was taking place but all in all the lions were doing very little
Suddenly a herd of impala started alarming a hundred metres or so away from us, which immediately caught one of the lionesses’ attention. Or was it something else she had heard?She began stalking off in that direction, showing definite intent in something, and ranger Nick Kleer and I decided to follow in our Land Rovers. There was a sudden snort as she disappeared behind a raisin bush, and coming around the corner we were more than a little shocked to see a struggling wildebeest pinned beneath her.
It seems that a pair of wildebeest males had been fighting and we hadn’t heard the commotion, but the lioness had, and knowing they would be distracted had immediately begun a stalk, which she had clearly managed very successfully. One of the Birmingham males had heard the disturbance and now came wandering over. the second male then joined and ended up forcing the lioness off the wildebeest, finishing the suffocation process himself.
Despite the lioness having made the inital takedown, she and her pride mates weren’t allowed to feed, and the males dominated the carcass into the night as we sat there for over an hour.
NOT FOR SENSITIVE VIEWERS:
With a kill of this size we almost expected the males to allow the females certain feeding rights, but it was not to be, and they would react aggressively each time one of the lionesses approached.
The evening’s drama was not yet over though, as one of the vehicles attempted to leave the sighting but discovered their vehicle battery had become drained through spotlight use, which necessitated a hasty plan being made to tow them out of the sighting and get them started again, with the lions feeding nearby.
Never a dull moment at Londolozi!
Wow! A great adventure. Fantastic sighting and then stuck next to the lions. Great video.
Stellar video footage! Felt as if I were in the Land Rover watching this unfold. And after all that….a dead battery!
Hi Joanne.
I’m pretty sure the dead battery was worth it…! 😉
Was it Nick’s vehicle without battery, and how did you tow the vehicle with the lions around? Quite exciting.
Haha Alessandra it was Grant’s vehicle. A little leaning out and blocking off of the procedure by another vehicle and it was managed safely…
wow, that sounds like the Grant we know and love – going all out to get the best/longest/most exciting experiences for Londolozi’s guests 🙂
Great description of this event, John. My parents and I were on the vehicle with the drained battery, and boy was it an adventure! We are still talking about how lucky we were to witness this scene up close. Truly amazing!
Love the video and dialogue. Those males are really selfish- it was the female that discovered the wildebeest!!
Incredible!