We turn a corner on a dirt path and see a pride of lions. They sit on the path, watching, lounging. There are eight of them, including a large female and some young males. We park the vehicle, engine off and watch. A dove calls--the classic sound of African. The young male lions get up, poke around in the tall grass and return to the road. The grass is so high, that the lions come back to the road for easier hunting. We watch the female, a gorgeous lion, strong, tawny in color. It's the paws and the eyes of the lion that always amaze me, paws enormous and eyes a piercing yellow.
The young males move into the bush, we pay no notice enjoying the view of the female. Suddenly, the female stands up and looks sharply to the trees, where the males have gone. She is intensely focused. Her muscles tense and bulging, an incredible creature. She moves slowly towards the trees. Stops. Then suddenly she starts running away from the trees, the opposite direction from where the males went. Immediately thereafter, the bush explodes with dust, hooves, noise, movement, wildebeest, running like rockets through the trees being chased by the young male lions who are focused and fast. A flurry of activity.
With perfection they chase one of the wildebeest precisely towards the crouched and waiting female lion who nails the wildebeest instantly, pouncing out of the grass in total surprise to the wildebeest. All the lions circle and pounce on the wildebeest. More wildebeest run by and the female leaves the one she has just taken down and starts running after the others. Some of the lions chase after her, while the other lions wait with the maimed wildebeest, paws pressed on it, assuring it will not get away, while watching the other chase. Some of the males return to the wildebeest, five of them on the animal, trying to kill it. With each breath the wildebeest lets out a cry that sounds like a failing horn. It's a cry I have heard before at the great wildebeest migration crossing in Kenya. There, dozens of wildebeest crying as they try to cross the river without getting killed by crocs. Here the wildebeest cries as the lions try to kill her. It's a good couple of minutes and agonizing hearing the crying wildebeest and watching his legs flail in the air. The young male lions chew on him, paw at him, but do not kill him.
The female returns from her other chase, cuts right through the males and bites the neck of the wildebeest, eventually ending his life. After that we watch in the dim light as the lions feast on the wildebeest. Tearing through the skin with their sharp teeth, licking the blood and devouring the meat. The sound of lions eating in inexplicable, growls, grunts and roars. Nudging each other out of the way to get a better angle, its an awesome sight. We leave them to their evening meal and make our way back in the dark to the lodge in awe.
How the pride orchestrated the kill, perfectly funneling the prey to the female, without, at least to our knowledge, any communication, is mind boggling. An awesome glimpse into the intricacies of the natural world. We were incredibly lucky to see the kill, despite the images of Disney channel and National Geographic, seeing a kill is rare. It's a brutal, yet awesome cycle of life.
