The Msuthlu Pride has been one of the most-viewed prides of lions at Londolozi in recent times, most often being seen in the south-eastern parts of the reserve. However, over the last month or two, they have become a little harder to find as they have moved further south. Even when they are found, you never quite know how many of them you will see together. This is due to a number of the adult females having come back into heat and being seen away from the rest of the pride mating with the N’waswitsaka Males. Recently, I had the pleasure of seeing ten of the pride together, almost a full complement of the eleven known members, and it was quite a spectacle.
On a morning drive into the south-west in search of cheetahs, we found tracks indicating they had crossed our western boundary. With a little disappointment, we decided to head into the deep south of the reserve, as you never know what might be waiting in the furthest reaches of Londolozi. We came across a herd of buffalo moving steadily north and, near the rear of the herd, noticed a bull with fresh blood on his hind legs and a couple of scratches along his body. Tracker Tshepo and I felt this was a fairly recent injury and, paired with the unsettled movement of the herd, suspected that lions might be in the area.
We drove a little further south, past the herd of buffalo, and about five hundred metres later came across ten members of the Msuthlu Pride. The pride was trying to hunt a dazzle of zebra a couple of hundred metres further south, so we decided to stick with them for a while.
We soon noticed a single lioness moving away from the rest of the pride and, suddenly, spotted a male ostrich that caught her attention. She gave chase but, unfortunately for her, ostriches are incredibly fast, and she stood very little chance in an outright foot race. She eventually gave up the chase, but the ostrich immediately began performing a display, a sort of dance that ostriches often do as a distraction. This behaviour made perfect sense, as we had recently heard that an ostrich nest had been found in the area.
The commotion had alerted the zebra, and with her element of surprise gone, the lioness turned and headed back to the rest of the pride. We turned around as well and made our way back to where we had left the lions. To our utmost surprise, we found them all huddled around the very ostrich nest that the male ostrich had been trying so hard to draw the lioness away from.
We noticed that one egg had already been crushed and, while feeling sorry for the male ostrich, we decided to stay and watch what was proving to be a highly unusual sighting.
Ostrich eggs are not typically part of a lion’s diet. However, when a nest is left unattended, they will happily take advantage of the opportunity to feed on these massive, nutrient-dense eggs. Each ostrich egg can weigh up to around 1.5 kilograms, and we counted a full sixteen of them in the nest! While not enough to provide a full meal for a pride this size, lions will rarely pass up an easy feeding opportunity, even if it amounts to little more than a snack.
As we watched, it became apparent that the lions were having quite a bit of difficulty getting through the thick shells, for good reason too. Ostrich eggs can withstand around 500 pounds of vertical pressure, and their sheer size made it difficult for the lions to get their mouths around them effectively.
After about twenty minutes, a couple of the lions had made some progress and managed to puncture the shells with their canines after finding the right angle. We watched for another twenty minutes as the pride worked away at the nest, eventually managing to open around six of the eggs before we moved off.
I later heard that some of the lions had even started tossing the eggs into the air so that they would break upon hitting the ground. This was incredible to hear, as we had seen how they had been struggling to simply pierce through them with their teeth, and now they had worked out an easier way to overcome this difficulty.
It was a truly fascinating sighting and one that I doubt I will forget anytime soon. It was intriguing to see these lions behaving more like opportunistic scavengers than hunters as they fed on eggs from an unattended nest. Encounters like this are a reminder of just how adaptable these predators can be and how willing they are to take advantage of any feeding opportunity that presents itself.
It really does go to show that out here in the bush, no potential meal goes unnoticed for long.
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This is so interesting Chris. I had no idea if the strength of ostrich egg shells, or that lions, of all the big five, would have difficulty cracking them. Even their interest in them is fascinating. Great post!
Hi Chris, this was certainly a different approach to a kill, being huge ostrich eggs. Shame so no new baby ostriches will be arriving soon. Lions are unpredictable at times.
What an extraordinary sighting! Happy lions, but
Poor Ostriches, to lose all these eggs to the lions.
Will the females lay new eggs after this batch has been eaten? or only after a year or so?
They do breed throughout most of the year, so it will likely be sooner rather than later, laying dates is also often triggered by rainfall!
Whilst perhaps a bonus treat for the lions, it’s tragic that the ostrich lost its clutch of eggs, considering how difficult it is for ostrich chicks to reach adulthood. Your photos were great and clearly illustrated the sighting which must have been fascinating to observe by all of you there. Once again we see that nature is not always beautiful and gentle, but always completely authentic – one animal’s loss is another’s survival. Terrific story Chris.
How bizarre and unusual to witness. I’m surprised they even tried for the eggs (and stuck with them for so long before losing interest). Although, as far as snacks go, this one required very little energy and only patience, so I suppose it worked out for them. Will the ostriches abandon the nest and any remaining eggs?
I didn’t see them eat all of the eggs but I believe that the lions did get through all of them in the end. So unfortunately the ostriches will have to start again!
Hi Chris, I watched lionesses in Ruaha digging to get access to running water, incredible how hard eggs are, I fancy the chicks breaking them peck by peck… and a powerful lioness’ teeth can’t do it so easily… indeed, lions are extremely adaptable and smart.