The Ross Pride has returned to their old territory now that Chuck and Larry (adult Ross Pride males) have grown up and been ousted into the wild world on their own. It seems that the pride of 7 is getting settled after killing 2 warthogs a few days ago, and then attempting to kill another warthog yesterday morning. What’s more is that they scavenged an impala kill off a leopard in full view of the nThambo guests before that!
Africa on Foot guests were split between those who wanted to walk and those who wanted to enjoy a morning drive, and it seems this time the guests on drive got off lucky when they pulled up to this sighting of the Ross Pride guarding a warthog burrow. A pride of 3 adult lionesses and 4 sub-adult cubs, these lions need more than a couple of bites of warthog to keep them going. Their last kill was a few days ago, and they are looking thin.
Matt Roberts, nThambo ranger, pulled up to the incredible sighting first thing this morning when the Ross Pride lions were climbing up a tree to get to the carcass of an impala that had obviously been hidden there by a leopard. As if it was not a spectacular enough sighting, an elephant approached the scene and voiced his dislike for the lions! Notoriously, elephants don’t like predators and will quickly charge at them or try to scare them away, but these lions were in the safety of a tree when the elephant approached. Check out the nThambo Facebook page for the awesome video of this act playing out.
After cleaning up what was left of the impala carcass, the Ross Pride had only whet their appetites, so went in search of something more. This is when Africa on Foot guests got to watch them digging at a warthog burrow in attempt to chase them out. We have watched them operate like this in the past, and they have been successful, but this morning the pair of warthogs came off tops. When the exhausted lions took a rest from digging and relaxed a bit, both warthogs shot out from the hole and fled for their lives. They were lucky and got away, but left the Ross Pride in need of a meal!
Watch the video put together by photographer and filmmaker, Kevin MacLaughlin, on the scene for the duration of this warthog stakeout, and hear his take on why this was a crucial loss for the Ross Pride:
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