Shortly after the sun set behind the horizon, when the Woodland Kingfishers, Fork-tailed Drongos and several Flycatchers where attempting to catch the last of the insects before returning to their nests for the night, a lioness emerged from the brush. As my guests enjoyed the sighting and got caught up in photographing her, she was joined by a young male and second female. They slowly began to move away from where we had originally sighted them. We followed them slowly where they proceeded towards a pool of water a short way off. A Red-billed Oxpecker was sounding a warning call in the distance which seemed to echo across the waters edge. While the lions quietly drank, a large herd of buffalo appeared. It was very impressive to witness the lions strategizing and taking up different positions without being noticed by the buffalos. As the buffalos where approaching, some of the calves started to run in excitement towards the water. One of the lionesses proceeded to stalk the youngsters and actually charged one of the calves which was roughly 20m from her. However a mother’s love should not be underestimated. When the cow realized her calf was in danger she fiercely defended it by charging the lioness. In doing this the buffalo suddenly became aware of the presence of the three lions. Some of the buffalo scattered into the bush disappearing while some of the older bulls attempted to chase the lions off. The lions then scattered in all directions leaving the buffalo to calmly resume their positions at the edge of the water and life at the dam became calm once again.

Nelson

2011/12/14