Awoke feeling much better. Glad to be able to go out on game drive. Only out this morning until 8 AM. I have Barney, a local tour guide, picking me up at 9 for the Panorama Tour.
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| Morning fog |
We saw two rhino and the lions with cubs. Glad to see that the lionesses have brought the cubs back to the pride. The cubs were very playful and scampered about while the pride walked.
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| A good stretch to start the day. |
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| Evidently they did not kill last night.
She is very thin. |
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| Do you see the smile? |
The pride is on the move. Cubs are so curious about the vehicles that they lag behind and keep looking back at us.
We were surprised to briefly see Patches, one of the lioness, with her six week old cub. The last sighting of this cub and one sibling had been the day before I arrived. Although, we had seen Patches on many occasions, the cub was feared to be gone. It is not uncommon for the mother to keep a very young cub separated from the pride for safety reasons. Patches had three cubs, two tawny cubs and one white cub. One tawny cub was killed early on. White lions are very rare, with most of them being found in this particular reserve. The survival rate for a cub is less than 20% with a decrease to less than 8% for the white cubs. I have seen pictures of this new white cub, and at this point it was feared to be dead. Indeed, when we saw Patches with her one cub, that was confirmation, that the white cub had not made it. White cubs stand out too much in this brown and gray terrain. They are easy prey.
Lions receive names at the age of one year. The rangers wait until then due to the mortality rate. African names are given. All of the lions have identifying marks. Patches has a spot of different coloring above each eye. Some of the lioness have lighter fur and very distinct markings.
A bit later in this mornings drive, we received a distressing report from the other Gomo Gomo Land Rover that was in the area. This vehicle had followed Patches and a few of the lioness when they veered off from the pride. The four cubs and the youngest cub were left with one lioness that we had seen repeatedly over the week. She has a dislocated hip (probably from an elephant or buffalo kick) and has struggled to keep up with the pride. The rangers had assumed that she has been allowed to feed at kills, even though she may not have participated greatly in the hunt. The guests in the other vehicle witnessed Patches leave the five cubs with this lioness. As soon as Patches was out of sight, she took the six week old cub in her jaw, broke its neck and started eating it. We now can assume what happened to the other two cubs that Patches has lost. This is not necessarily normal behavior for lions, but it is not unheard of either. The lioness that killed the cub may be feeling the stress of not being a full part of the pride or resentful to the attention that the cubs receive. Thankfully, the older cubs (five months and eight months) are too old for her to take her frustration out on. At least, I am hopeful that this is true.
As much as I had hoped to see a kill of buffalo or the such, I am thankful that I did not witness this encounter.
Back to the lodge and my day tour!
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