It was still dark when ranger Chris Taylor and I met in the Ranger’s Room.
Over a cup of coffee we decided on a plan. Our mission was simple; attempt to find either a lion or leopard close to camp.
As we set off, the sun was just rising and we stopped up on a crest to appreciate this daily spectacle. Turning off the Land Rover would give us a chance of hearing impalas alarm calling or lions roaring in the distance.
Pausing to watch the sunrise is always rewarding, added to which, sitting in silence allows one to listen out for clues that might lead to the sighting of a lifetime.
The next minute we did hear something, although the sound wasn’t what we expected – crackling through the radio’s speaker was the voice of ranger Pat Grealy, announcing that he had found one of the Birmingham male lions with a kill.
Chris and I jumped back onto the vehicle and promptly made our way in the direction of the male lion. Upon arrival, we were greeted with a spectacular sight – a huge male lion standing over his kill, bathed in the early morning light. As we sat there we speculated as to whether this male had made the kill (an adult wildebeest) himself or if he had stolen it from other lions.
One of the Birmingham males with the remains of a wildebeest. We could tell the kill was made a few hours before and the male had already gorged himself on more than half of the carcass.
Before we even had time to finalise our hypotheses, we were interrupted by a cacophony of impala alarm calls behind us. The male lion stared intently in the direction of the calls but he seemed reluctant to leave his kill. We squinted into the sun to see what all the fuss was about and to our surprise a young male leopard emerged from the golden glow, oblivious of what was going on ahead of him.
No sooner had we seen the leopard than it was off in the opposite direction. I cannot say for sure if the leopard saw the male lion or if his senses somehow informed him that he was walking in a dangerous direction; either way, he made a break for the thicket and we lost sight of him. While all this commotion was happening behind us, the male lion stood up in order to get a better view of what was unfolding. Similarly, I am unsure whether or not the lion saw the leopard but it seemed as though the lion would prefer to guard his meal rather than race off to chase the mystery animal who had disturbed the impalas.
Although the Birmingham male was reluctant to leave his kill, he did wander a few paces over to investigate what why the impalas were causing such a stir.
Soon after the leopard had exited the scene both the lion and the impalas relaxed. The Birmingham male returned to his kill but before he had even had a chance to settle his attention was directed towards the sound of intense growling a few hundred meters away. Chris and I decided to investigate and after a few minutes of searching, we uncovered another surprise, three Ntsevu lionesses were squabbling over the remains of another kill. We couldn’t believe our good fortune and barely had time do appreciate the moment before the lionesses began moving up the hill in the direction of the male.
An Ntsevu lioness gazes in the direction of the Birmingham male with the wildebeest kill. Could it have been the lionesses that made the kill only to have it stolen by the male lion? Likely
One of the lionesses cautiously approaches the Birmingham male who was jealously guarding his kill. We were unable to tell whether the kill the lionesses had finished off was a second kill or just a piece of the wildebeest kill.
In the end the lionesses settled up at a safe distance from the male and stared longingly at his meal. At this point the morning was beginning to warm up and we decided to leave the lions to rest after a successful night of hunting. As we wound our way down the hill in the direction of camp there was one last surprise in store. The mystery leopard from earlier was walking through the clearing ahead of us. We raced to catch up with him and were able to get a view of the young male before he disappeared. The leopard in question turned out to be the Tavangumi Male. Fortunately for this nomadic young leopard, he managed avoid a meeting with a big male lion which could have ended badly. In a morning of surprises, I think the Tavangumi Male was the most surprised of all us to find himself in a sea of lions but fortunately he managed to escape unscathed with an invaluable lesson learned in the process.
The Tavangumi Male beat a hasty retreat through the thicket, making sure he was far away from any lions.
Hi folks. I know Mr Tyrell got back to me a while ago with regards to this but I am still unable to view the pictures when I click on them, regardless of what hardware I’m using. This is very frustrating because I use my ohone a lot and need to enlarge the images to view them. This started happening in the last 3rd of 2020 and only with new photos. Older photos that are posted are no problem. Did anyone manage to look into this? Kind regards, Tracey van Dijck (UK)
Hi Tracey – thank you for letting us know. Our technical team is working on it and I will let you know as soon as the problem is resolved. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.
Nick, I loved the leopard🤗
Nick, I loved the Lions🤗
Very interesting reading, Nick! Well written and well documented with pics etc. Such a pleasure to read for 2 elderly folk like us who love the Bush, but who hardly ever can go there anymore! Thank you! Wendy and Neil M
What an awesome morning, so amazing
Enough excitement in the early morning for a few days.
My goodness that is a beautiful foto of the Birmingham male lion guarding his kill. So glad the leopard decided to go the opposite direction and not get chased by the lions. The lioness looks so intently, so that makes me think he stole their kill. Beautiful foto’s and you three rangers were so likey to see them and take such fabulous foto’s.
Nick, What a great morning! We are guessing that as usual, the females did the work and the male lion got to take advantage of it. It’s awesome to see the image you got of the Tavangumi male. We’re not sure if we’ve seen any images of him before, but he’s a handsome guy for sure! Where does his name come from? How do you get info on nomads like him?
Hey! I don’t think you would have seen him when you were last here. He grew up on Singita so we are able to get information about from our neighbours.
Magnificent pictures of the lions and the leopard, great job Nick.
HAS ANYONE SEEN OR KNOW HOW THE 2 TSALALA LIONESS ARE????????
Hello Suzanne, I am on leave so I am unsure where they are now but they were seen on Mala Mala about two weeks ago.
So glad to see Tavangumi! And the lions eating a hearty breakfast!
That Birmingham male is huge!
It is such an beautiful animal, so proud of it self.
It should have been awesome to see everything so close, thanks for sharing.
Wow, what a fantastic morning! Thank you for sharing
What a great morning.
Just goes to show you never know what you’ll see or what might happen. The lush green scenery certainly highlights the golden furred animals in the early morning light. Great composition and lighting. So, where is the other Birmingham male. I haven’t noticed the two together in awhile.
The other Birmingham male has been around, he was seen mating with one of the other Ntsevu females.
Hi, I heard of the Hukumuri male leopard, it was so sad that nature and its creatures are wiped off by humans. To see the Birmingham lion and this young leopard and the whole lion dynamics is such a consolation!
Some stunning photos Nick and what a morning you guys had ! Simple perfect 👌🏻💗
A serendipitous morning indeed Nick! Great story and great pictures, and I especially loved the interweaving nature of the narrative. Question: Other that a foolhardy attempt at stealing some of the kill (would a leopard even attempt that with a lion?), what would the conditions be for the leopard to put itself at risk of a lion attack? How close would it have to come? Would the lion simply chase it off, or would it attempt harm? Given that leopards are faster than lions, does it depend on the element of surprise, or who is the quickest to the mark? Thanks for indulging all of this!
Hi Paul, most of the time when a lion and a leopard meet it is down to pure chance. In other cases, either animal might be curious about the presence of vultures or the smell of a kill. Usually leopards will stay away from lions and although lions will chase leopards if they get close, they will rarely go out of their way to kill an adult leopard.
Got it! Thanks so much for getting back to me Nick, and all the best!
Wow what a fantastic morning with the Great Cats!