Young male lion eating a leopard tortoise
&Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve
Location
Guide
Luke Hartley
Recorded by
Luke Hartley
Date
Summer 2023
Youth, survival and the circle of life
Safari scribbles:
One afternoon we found a big leopard tortoise feeding on short grass in the shade of a monkey-thorn tree. We all climbed out to get a better look at this prehistoric-looking member of the small 5. The question on everyone’s minds… what actually preys on something with such a hard shell? Only a few hundred metres down the road, we saw a lions head appear above the tall grass and then immediately drop back down. We drove up to see why he kept looking up and down. Lo and behold, our question was answered! This young male had been chased away by its mother as she was ready to mate. He had lost his brother to a snake bite and was now alone and having to fend for himself. The tortoise presented exactly the kind of easy target it needed – unfortunately for the tortoise.
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