Last night brought some exciting lion activity that was about 800m away from a head on collision! The Hercules Pride ventured out of their usually hidden territory, and we know from experience that they remain as unnoticed as possible. Coming from the other direction (we are assuming Northern Klaserie) a pride of 8 unknown lions arrived in the darkness; alert, silent, and moving quickly. The unknown lions were spotted within a kilometre of the Hercules Pride, and ranger-photographer Kevin was hot on their trail! Kevin radioed Ranger Mike who brought Africa on Foot guests to the sighting, and luckily the game viewer arrived in time to watch the nervous pride move swiftly along and eventually out of sight. Our guests got the lions, but unfortunately our cameras didn’t!
The pride looked like it consisted of some adult females and a combination of male and female subadults, while no big male was present. This is Trilogy territory, and with surrounding prides laying claim to the area, it is an unsafe place for an unknown pride to be. With water levels low, animal activity is not easily predicted, and we are seeing more of some species, while less of others, and the arrival of new lions is certainly unexpected, yet never impossible.
These lions missed the vicious Hercules Pride by the skin of their teeth, but who knows where they are hiding out now. We will have to keep an eye open on this afternoon’s drive to try and relocate these lions and get better info on them. Hopefully we will be able to land some photos of the pride if we are successful this afternoon. In the meantime, familiarise yourself with the small, but efficient Hercules pride consisting of 2 adult females and 4 (now subadult) cubs.
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