We posted a photo on our Instagram account yesterday of some Mhangeni sub-adults drinking peacefully together around a small rainwater puddle back in 2016. Not one sign of aggression is seen between any of the young lions, nor will one ever really see aggressive interactions around a water source (assuming it’s only drinking the lions are interested in).
The Mhangeni pride line up.
Yet why would this be so?
As a resource, water is just as valuable as food.
I read on a website recently that lions have to eat everyday, but I would argue this, as we have seen prides go for significantly longer without food. Perhaps they are catching small things during the night and we aren’t seeing the results, but we’ve literally seen lions sprawled out in the same spot for three days running, which strongly suggests that nothing was caught during the hours of darkness. Yes, if lions have taken on a large meal, it will last them for awhile, but they certainly don’t need to eat everyday.
This type of aggression won’t be seen around water.
The same website argued that lions need to drink everyday. Again, not true: the desert-adapted lions of Namibia can go for much longer without drinking, as they rely heavily on the blood of their prey for their moisture intake. I don’t know what other physiological adaptations they have to survive in such an inhospitable environment, but the daily drinking thing would almost certainly be a fallacy for them.
I suppose my point in that one is simply that you mustn’t believe everything you read on the internet.
With surface water severely limited in Namibia and certain parts of Botswana, many lions that have adapted to a desert lifestyle will be forced to go for longer than just a day without drinking. Photography courtesy of Ingrid Mandt.
Anyway, the whole aim of the discussion today is to highlight the difference between the behaviour of lions when at a waterhole and when at a kill. At the former there is comparative calm, with only the soft lapping of tongues and water drops falling back into their source to break the silence, whereas at the latter there can be absolute carnage; snarling, biting, claws slashing, injuries, etc…
Seeing lions fighting over food for the first time can be quite an intimidating sight, yet viewing a pride drinking is quite the opposite; you almost struggle to picture the great cats as killers.
Four Ntsevu females drink in the late morning.
Why would lions be infinitely more peaceful around one resource and not another, when both are just as crucial to their survival.
Firstly, lions don’t have to work hard to obtain standing water. By this I mean relatively little energy was expended in the acquirement thereof; they didn’t have to stalk it, didn’t have to wait patiently while it grazed closer, and they certainly didn’t get bucked around by the water, risking their lives as they fought to subdue it, to a point where when it was finally theirs for the keeping, they felt they were owed their due. With a buffalo, yes, with water no.
The effort that went in to taking down big prey might well be a factor in lions’ subsequent aggression over the carcass.
The very fragility of a good water source itself might have something to do with it. Lions can be fussy drinkers, often disdaining the bigger waterholes in favour of a nearby patch of rainwater, preferring the freshness and cleanliness of the smaller source.
Any fighting and associated splashing that might be done in or around these small water patches could severely taint them, muddying them up and in some cases rendering them useless. Perhaps there has been some sort of awareness that has evolved in lions (and other predators) that makes them behave with an idea to preserving the water. However unlikely, nothing in nature is outside the realms of possibility.
Anyway, there are many possibilities here that suggest why lions act so differently at water and at food. We’ll be discussing it amongst the Ranger and Tracker Team at Londolozi; what do you think?
Interesting thoughts. Lions do seem to fight with each other when at a kill. Some pride members more agressive than others. Maybe it is the males that claim the kill, and the females can just wait their turn. We saw the Tsalalas catch a small nyala once. The cubs fought viciously over every scrap. It might be that they do not know where their next meal will be coming from where as at a water source they know it will be there the next day.
Don’t believe everything you read on the internet, very sage advice.
James, Interesting the way this all happens Great group photos at waters edge. Thank you
Interesting, I never wondered why lions are so calm when drinking water in contrast to eating food.
And yet they rely on water much less than most herbivores do.
Really fun blog … both in subject and in content! Another treatment of something we all notice but never give it the thoughtful analysis that you have!
James, again great story telling.
I saw a leopard drinking when we there in 2018 – the cats are amazing creatures.
Let us all know, James, what the answer is when you rangers / trackers have discussed it! Think there is more free water around than food. It is easier to access and big cats don’t have to work so hard to obtain it because it doesn’t “fight back”! Wendy M
We have several wonderful images of lion prides peacefully drinking. Never really thought it through. Thanks for the insight!
Interesting observation. Of course water at a fairly large sized water hole is abundant. Wondering during drought a few years back if you guys had the chance to observe lion prides drinking at what I would assume were more scarce water resources displaying the same cooperative civility?
One more reason could be that water won’t disappear as fast as their killed prey..in other words, the water pots, rivers will be there to satisfy the lions’ thirst the next day as well as the next days (and/or months)..consequently they don’t have to fight with each other because the water resource is just in front of them in a considerable amount and they can drink from it as much and as long they like. The prey on the other hand, will be available for a very short period of time…additionally, if the lions haven’t eaten for days they r super hungry and on a hurry of eating as much and as fast they can. The reason for the latter could be that their peers could eat up their share…not to mention that the next meal could in several days later
Hi Maria,
Very good observations, and I’m sure they play their part. I think you may well be onto something there with the rate at which the food disappears…
Great blog and lots of food for thought. As you point out, none of us including lions, can survive without water for days at a time, whilst we can live without food. I’m guessing when lions are pushed to their hunger boundaries, sharing is not an option- first in feasts while others fight for scraps. A water source doesn’t provide that threat of fighting to eat.
It seems other animals react the same when faced with food deprivation. Will watch this spot to learn what your team thinks.
Great post, James with a very interesting question. I agree with other comments here, but also want to highlight what was alluded to above, and that is the effect on lions of having their adrenaline amped up during the hunt and the kill. Once that’s amped up, it can be hard to dissipate, fueling further aggression. One classic movie that shows this behavior so well among men is “Moby Dick,” when Ahab has been drowned and the hunt is clearly futile, the other whaler’s are so amped up, they disregard reason, and pursue the chase to their doom.
Great point Michael, I agree 100%!
James, it seems to us that there is a big difference between feeding on a kill and feeding on water. The water also seems like a safe place for them too and if the watering hole is big enough for everyone, why fight over it!