Zimbabwe: A Walk in the Wild, Wild World/ Part 2

For all photos, click on them for full-size

Predators/Prey

Lion with its jaws clamped on the throat of the unlucky buffalo. This method probably results in less pain for the prey, though not for altruistic reasons.

The dangerous run we had just made was quickly forgotten, and replaced with the sensory deluge just 150 feet from us.  The entire pride of 11 lions was upon the young, unlucky cape buffalo as a few others from its herd looked on.  Although this part of wildlife viewing is not always for everyone, it's important to realize that this is as pure as nature gets. There has been a lot of talk about us humans forgetting where our food is from, or even forgetting what we are eating. Not so in the animal kingdom. Wild lions eat meat exclusively, and have done so for millions of years. Some predators, like the wild dogs mentioned in the last post,  sometimes eat their prey alive, which would certainly be difficult to watch. They do this not out of cruelty, but because of their lower status on the predator food chain, where they stand to have their prey stolen by larger competition like lions and hyena. They have to eat fast. Lions don't have this problem, and this may explain their way of dealing with prey: they go for the neck and wait until breathing has stopped to feed.  Some would say this is much less traumatic for the unlucky prey (yes, I know, they are eventually going to be eaten, but work with me here).  By the time we got to the mahogany tree,  the buffalo had most likely stopped breathing, since the lions had just starting feeding.

The lion cubs, though not active in the take-down, most definitely enjoyed the fruits of the pride's labor

We were so close to the scene that we could hear both the sounds of the feeding, and also the agitated calling of the herd closest to the kill. It was incredible to see the primordial reaction of the rest of the herd. They didn't simply flee to safety; they stayed,  unsure of what to do, but unable to leave their unlucky kin. Keeping  at a respectful distance, they leaned in to catch the scents of the scene, assessing,  perhaps,  the condition of this unlucky one.  They didn't yet know it was gone.

The herd returns to rescue the fallen member, not knowing it is too late

The Melee

As we took in the incredibly primal scene so close to us, the rest of the herd, the ones who had posed us danger just minutes before, began to file in and gather. Andy's situational radar spiked and he told us that it was probably going to get exciting. "We may even be going up this tree", he said. Nervous laughter.  An obvious leader of the herd, an alpha male, eventually emerged, distinguishing himself by making his way to the front and displaying aggressively: nostrils flaring, loud mooing, testicles showing, head nodding low as to show his horns. This encouraged some of the other members of the herd to move closer with him to the fallen one. The lions, up until this point, were ignoring the herd. Occasionally, one would look up for a second, but then go right back to feeding. One exception was the mother of the cubs. She didn't eat at all. Eventually, though, the buffalo got too close and a line was crossed: the lions all stopped feeding and went into defense mode; a face-to-face standoff began.

Lion-Buffalo stand-off. Who will prevail?

The sounds emanating from these age-old foes started to reach an ancient, supremely wild crescendo. The lions were snarling , the fur on their faces matted with blood and pulled back in a rictus, enormous dagger-like teeth bared. Rhythm similar to  motorcycle engines filled the dangerous air, rising and falling, like  steroidal purring  from a monster house cat. Muscles of  both feline and ungulate flexed, and the eyes of some of the buffalo bulged grotesquely.  Tails snapped the dust. And roaring. Yes, even roaring, like in your nightmares. A peripheral glance and some imagination would yield a scene of two armies with swords, leaned in , ready for the clash.

Our heart rates were most definitely accelerated. I looked away from the camera viewfinder at Nance and we had the following words:

Mike: "Do you want to practice climbing the tree, just in case?"  [She crumples her face as if I am crazy]

           "Well, Nance, when's the last time you climbed a tree??" 

Nancy: "When's the last time YOU climbed a tree??"  

Mike: "Exactly!!!"

 

The mother of the  two cubs, realizing the danger ahead, signaled for them to go, and they did. With their little heads entirely covered in the blood of their prey, they walked purposefully to the termite mound as buffalo started to fan out, surrounding the pride in a semi-circle. The cubs started loudly meowing. 

Then, it all happened very quickly. The alpha buffalo made a leap to the fallen one, putting his nose right into the body. A few of the  lions, all sinew and muscle, blew away from the prey in different directions, like an explosion. Andy: "GET UP THE TREE. NOW!" Other lions remained and roared louder, intently staring the alpha down, in a perfectly staggered row, almost as one. The cubs, meanwhile, were in mortal danger.

Alpha buffalo trying to reclaim the fallen buffalo 

        

The alpha buffalo, realizing the young kin was dead did what to anyone had to look like one thing: got revenge. He turned his attention to the pride, and with some of the other large bulls, lunged directly at them, scattering them this time in all directions, but mostly toward the tree with the termite mound.

One lion remains crouched, not willing to give in...

...until the buffalo goes into a full-on charge

NEXT UP:
PART 3:  MORE OF THE MELEE, FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS TO THE LIONS, THE BUFFALO, THE HUMANS (!) AND... AFTERMATH