Pride of lions get active as darkness falls
&Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve
Location
Guide
Recorded by
Meg Parker
Date
Summer 2023
A rather close encounter in the darkness
SAFARI SCRIBBLES:
We came upon a comatose pile of sleeping lions, so flat, in fact, we could hardly make out many of them in the long grass. A young subadult male appeared to be the only alert animal. We soon realised that the large dominant male was present with the group of three females and obviously, the nearly-independent subadult was on tenterhooks as to how the male might react to him if he lowered his guard. We left the nervous youngster watching over his sleeping pride mates and returned after sunset to gauge their interest in getting moving for the night. No sooner had we pulled up than the lionesses and large male got mobile, walking right past our parked vehicle and causing us to catch our breath as they passed within metres of us. The subadult skirted left as the older, and certainly very impressive, territorial male went right. The big male marked his territory and then treated us to the ultimate reward – a resounding roar, advertisement to all within earshot, that he was indeed, king of this patch.
(The red colour of the footage is due to a red filter used on the spotlight when shining on predators at night as a sensitivity precaution to reduce the effect of the light on their night vision)
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