Lions : Brutal or amazing ?

Watching lions kill something are for many people where they draw the line. Yes they are very brutal but if they are not brutal they wont survive. Just witnessing the pure brute and power they exert are mind blowing. Have you ever seen wildebeest and zebra run at full speed ? Now lions are capable of stopping them dead in their tracks by literally tackling them with either breaking their necks or suffocating them. Watching a lion kill can be very intense and it is a great privilege to witness the whole event unfold in front of you. To be honest it happens so quickly that you don't have time to pick your camera up, especially if you don't expect it.

You have to ask yourself are they brutal or amazing ?

This specific morning we were tracking this pride for quite sometime. We arrived at Tau dam and found the youngsters alone in the centre of the dam. We knew then the mothers were hunting. We sat with them for about 10 min. when we heard the contact calling of the lionesses. We followed the cubs directly to where one female was busy killing the wildebeest. She just finished to suffocate the animal when we arrived there..

They were all a bit weary with us around but settled down quickly. The youngsters tried to start feeding but without the help of mom they were a bit lost. Their teeth are not well developed yet to open tough skin like this. Normally the females will open the stomach area and the cubs can start feeding. They start eating meat from about 2 months old, although they suckle to about 6 months.

Here the cub follows moms example by eating the stomach contents first. There are loads of trace elements and minerals in these contents.

As you can see even mom can get irritated by the youngsters.. They all just want to get in there as soon as possible and start eating. This is where they will learn their place in the pride, mom will only talk once after that one warning their will be consequences.

This behaviour is very important because when the pride males are around they wont take any nonsense. When it comes to food the big guys normally gets eating rights. I have seen where the whole pride including the big males feast together, so it's not a fact that males always eat alone.

The female on the left was the one that killed the wildebeest. She only just joined in after she's gotten her breath back. The amount of energy a lion exerts on a kill is really tiring. It takes a while for her to get her breath back.

Normally when lions make a kill they open the stomach area and eat the organs and stomach lining first. They discard of the contents and normally cover it with grass to hide the scent from scavengers like hyenas and other lions.

After they are finished with this they will start eating the carcass inside out. It is easier to get to the meat from the inside. They all know not to waste to much time because the risk of scavengers and other lions taking their meal are great. Later that evening the pride males joined in and finished of what was left.

Last night we witnessed these two lionesses killing another wildebeest. They are really great providers for their pride. I know it looks like we only see lions......but you can't argue they are great subjects to photograph :)

Hope you enjoyed the reality of what happens out there !!

Check back soon again

Grant