The Cellar - july 15th, 2015: Lion Dining

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july 15th, 2015: Lion Dining

Don't you hate it when you go to a restaurant for a special dinner and they lose your reservation you made eons ago? Then when you press the issue, calmly explaining through clenched teeth how important this occasion is, the uppity hostess gives you a table right in the flight path of the kitchen and restrooms?
Then you can sympathize with these lions.

http://cellar.org/2015/lion1.jpg

Quote:

Safari-goers got front row seats to one of nature’s greatest shows while cruising through Kruger National Park on Friday. Two male lions paid no attention to the fact that they were in the middle of a busy road, and savagely stalked and killed a kudu. While many people traveling through Kruger spot a lion or two, or even see one gnawing on a fresh carcass in the bush (from a distance), it’s relatively rare to see an attack up close.

The young lady who took the pictures is a British student who is in South Africa doing wildlife research, so she was probably paying closer attention than the average tourist.

Quote:

“I stopped alongside the road to watch the two male lions, which had walked onto the road,” she said. “They stopped every few metres to mark their territory. “It was then that one of them saw the kudu standing in the bushes near the road. The lion immediately crouched and started stalking the buck.”
At that point, the alert kudu spotted the lion and attempted a speedy escape across the tarred road. Unfortunately, the animal slipped and fell, and landed on the ground between several vehicles. “While the kudu was still trying to find its feet, one of the lions tackled it from behind,” said Dunford. “The second lion then charged and got hold of the kudu by its throat. Just like that, the buck was brought down in the middle of the road and was dead in minutes.”

http://cellar.org/2015/lion2.jpg
................ http://cellar.org/2014/whistling.gifWe're Lions of means by no means, kings of the road.http://cellar.org/2014/whistling.gif

Quote:

Wanting to enjoy their meal, the lions spent about another half hour in the road chowing down on the kudu before finally dragging it into the bushes. It was just another day in Kruger for the lions, but a spectacular event for the humans that got to witness it.

link

It's even more unusual as it tends to be the females that hunt. The males watch the pride (so much for the "natural order" of things!)

The kudu slipping over was probably the lion equivalent of someone dropping their kebab.

That's true for Lions who have a pride, but male offspring are driven off when they become obnoxious teens, so there are always extra males who are too old, too young, or not badass enough to win fair maidens. Unless they're in heat, with no sugar daddy, females avoid them to protect their cubs. The extra males, especially siblings, hang out in street gangs for mutual protection and hunting.

In this case, when the Kudu went down the first Lion jumped it from behind and held it until his bro rushed over to grab the throat. If the first Lion had been alone, the Kudu would have probably suffered much longer.

From the BBC

Quote:

A lion pride is made of one to 21 females, their offspring, and a temporary coalition of 1 to 9 males

One-third of female lions in the Serengeti leave their mother's pride to form a new one

Males leave their pride by age 4, to go solo or form a coalition with other males

Great IOTD!

Looks like the kudu shit its pants when it saw the lion. There's a huge pile in the road.

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt (Post 933647)

Great IOTD!

Looks like the kudu shit its pants when it saw the lion. There's a huge pile in the road.

when it landed after slipping on the pavement.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce (Post 933635)

Good point, well made.
I guess I just didn't think about the ones who left the stage in the nature programmes.
Boys still gotta eat, and if there's no wimmin to make their sandwiches, then they better learn how to do it themselves :)

Mmmm...Kudu sammich.:yum: