A morning with lions

Yesterday morning we went out to look for the pack of 7 wild dogs. They were seen heading South from on of the lodges in the middle of the reserve. So instead we found this pride of 10 lions at one of the waterholes. This was the Mica pride with one of the Kgala Etali males. They are the pride males of the South eastern pride and South western pride. We got there just as the light was at its best. We call it the golden hour. What a show they put up for us. To the frustration of the 2 adult females and the big male the youngsters couldnt sit still for one second. They had everything else on their minds but food.



Eventually the females gave up and went to sleep.One of the reason lions wait at a waterhole is to ambush antelopes while they are drinking. But with all the comotion of the sub-adults nothing pitched up. One of the youngsters tried dad's patience as well....it was so funny. Its always interesting to see where the priorities of differnet age groups lies. Adults : save energy and get a meal
sub-adults: spend as much energy and mom will provide








All this playing around is not for nothing. This is how young lions develop their hunting skills and paw eye coordination. So in fact they learn and its fun !!

Hope you enjoyed the morning with lions

Grant