About the Author

James Tyrrell

Alumni

James had hardly touched a camera when he came to Londolozi, but his writing skills that complemented his Honours degree in Zoology meant that he was quickly snapped up by the Londolozi blog team. An environment rich in photographers helped him develop the ...

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27 Comments

on Jumping to Conclusions

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Ian Hall
Master Tracker

We have all made mistakes, as the Dalek said climbing off the dustbin

Annie.Lane07
Explorer

The important thing here is that you did eventuall realise that it was not a buffalo. With twenty two lions on a carcass it would not have been easy to see. What can one say apart from LOL

Marinda Drake
Master Tracker

Haha. Do not stress James. We all make mistakes, getting confused, identifying the wrong animal. Don’t know how it is possible but I sometimes mistake a zebra for a lion if it is some distance away.

Annie.Lane07
Explorer

The important thing here is that you did eventulally realise that it was not a buffalo. With twenty two lions on a carcass it would not have been easy to see. What can one say apart from LOL

Laszlo Toth
Explorer

Hi James,
Your mistake noted, apologies accepted 👍👍👍😀😀😀

Good for you James… But beware it might be remembered in a (hopefully, not too long) while…

Joan Schmiidt
Master Tracker

James, what a wonderful blog, I saved the picture of the lion, reflection in the water🤗 You are awesome photographer!

Sharron Gilbert
Explorer

Thank you for the ousts which are a connection to the wild as we all face lockdown

Darlene Knott
Master Tracker

Interesting story you told on yourself! 🤣😂🤣

Joanne Lofthouse
Digital Tracker

No worries James, it happens. I’m wondering how the cubs are doing from the Ntsevu pride, are they looking good?

Carole Esquilant
Digital Ranger

Oops indeed! I remember once everyone, including our guide, being convinced we had found a rhino only by seeing its horn sticking out from bushes. We were looking for rhino therefore we assumed we had found one. Confirmation bias. When we looked again and more closely we discovered it was ‘only’ a buffalo with one side of its horn sticking upwards as its head was lying down😀
There was some great drone footage of the lions eating by the water, particularly liked the end shot as the shot went higher and higher. Quick question about this – are drones always allowed or are they only being used mow because of lockdown?

Irene Henkes
Digital Tracker

hahahahahaha, oh well. Shows you’re human 🙂

Andrew and Daniel Bolnick
Digital Tracker

James. with all the lions surrounding there was no clear view. Guess your fellow Rangers and Trackers will be glad to have something to rib you about. Great photos and I’ll take your call any day. Regardless very exciting. I have been wondering how 21 in a lion pride get enough food. Surely they can take down a Buffalo with those numbers.

Denise Vouri
Guest contributor

To err is human….. enjoyed the blog and photos anyway!!

Jen Lum
Senior Digital Ranger

James, at least the lions don’t have to worry about hand sanitizers, or toilet paper and paper towels running out? Nor do they have to walk into a grocery store and find it ransacked! Us humans can barely find meat or poultry available! It’s actually humbling seeing how survive, not to mention a joyful sight seeing them enjoying a “fresh meal” and filling their bellies.

Jen Lum
Senior Digital Ranger

OOPS! (my bad! My typo makes my post look like it had a hiccup!)
As I previously mentioned, .. at least the lions don’t have to worry about hand sanitizers, or toilet paper and paper towels running out? Nor do they have to walk into a grocery store and find it ransacked! Us humans (in America) can barely find meat or poultry available these days! .. Seeing the lions feasting on the “rack of ribs,” my mind thinks,..”WOW! that would cost us a small fortune here in the U.S.!”
It’s actually humbling seeing how the lions survive, not to mention it being a joyful sight seeing them enjoying a “fresh meal” and filling their bellies. They have truly earned their keep!

Suzanne Gibson
Master Tracker

Would that be worthy of the pink pouch? – and who’s the current holder of it?

Chelsea Allard
Master Tracker

If you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at? I for one, won’t hold it against you.

Ian Maclarty
Guest contributor

Smart move to spill the beans yourself. That will take some of the heat out of the derogatory comments, which as you predict, will surely come in due course.

Judith Guffey
Digital Tracker

We all make mistakes once or twice. At least this is not a pink pouch occasion (or might it be?) Hamba kahle. Zulu because I can’t find a Shanghaan dictionary nor translated.

Wendy Macnicol
Digital Tracker

“A funny noise from the riverbed a few hundred metres from where we had stopped to stretch our legs caught our attention,…..” Does anything here strike anyone as being a little “strange”? They were within striking distance of a really big pride of lions!! And they were stretching their legs?? Wow. OK. The lions were very occupied but still … Wendy M

Victoria Auchincloss
Master Tracker

Mistakes happen and I would think that identification of the pride’s dinner would be very difficult considering the number of bodies surrounding the meal. Victoria

Joanne Wadsworth Kelley
Master Tracker

Well, it’s a good thing you put it out there first, ’cause the endless ribbing WILL occur! No worries, next time it will be someone else!

Hello, excellent article, all right we all make mistakes.
I’m new to the blog, could you tell me which coalition dominates this pride?

James Tyrrell
Alumni

Hi Adriel,
It’s the Birmingham pride. Two big males that are left out of a coalition of 4 that took over the area (I think they were 5 originally).

are beautiful lions thank you

Paul Canales
Master Tracker

No shame in admitting an error. In fact, your honesty and humility provide an excellent example that we all, including some of our world leaders, could and should learn from and follow! As we say in Oakland, it’s also a HELLA funny story in hindsight. Bravo James!!

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