Two days ago I was busy viewing two female lions by one of our dams, when the two of them slowly began to move away from the dam. I then noticed that they looked very interested in something. The “something” turned out to be a small herd of Blue Wildebeest which were making their way down towards the dam to drink some water. Very excited I stopped, turned off my vehicle and waited for the ambush. The ambush did not happen and the wildebeest walked straight past the lioness. Amazingly the lioness did not attack, instead she lay flat and waited.
The patience of the lion was amazing and she waited till the wildebeest were in the perfect position to be chased straight into the other female, which by this stage had disappeared and positioned herself perfectly for the pounce. The ambush happened… the wildebeest were chased by the one lioness towards the other but unfortunately they missed and were unsuccessful in their hunt .
It was still amazing for me… for the first time in my guiding career I saw with my own eyes the thinking and precision that goes into a lion hunt, and no one should underestimate their intelligence.
Story by: Jonathan Bennett- Kapama River Lodge Ranger
