Visitors to Kruger National Park have access to around 3,000 kilometres of roads. Accordingly, many sightings come down to being in the right place at the right time, as this visitor experienced.
Park Jamaat submitted this footage to Latest Sightings. He filmed it on the S126 gravel road while visiting South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
Wishful wandering
While driving down the S126, Park’s hopes of seeing one of the park’s numerous predator species were high.
The route winds along the Sweni River and offers excellent sightings of both predators and their prey.
Hopes fulfilled
His hopes subsequently came true. Emerging from the plains to the right, he saw lions approaching the road.
Leading the pride was a fully-grown lioness. As it turned out, this was only the beginning of an impressive procession.
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Mother and cub
Alongside her, what looks like a year-old cub kept up with mum. Lions give birth to litters of up to 4 cubs.
Female cubs often stay with their birth pride for life. By contrast, the dominant males force their sons to leave as they reach sexual maturity.
Mixed age groups
Meanwhile, more lions were making their way to the road. Next in line was a sub-adult female, along with another yearling.
Lion prides often feature youngsters of various age groups. Accordingly, the cubs start forming lasting bonds from an early age.
Males absent
Another interesting aspect of this video is the absence of adult males. Male lions spend a lot of time away from the rest of the pride.
Because they often service multiple prides and have large territories to patrol, they only join the various prides intermittently.
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Healthy lion population
Consequently, as Park continued watching, yet more lions of various ages crossed the road ahead of him. It is estimated that up to 2,000 lions are living in Kruger.
According to park census data, the population is divided between 14 separate mega prides. Pride size varies between 13 and 40 members.
High cub mortality
While it may seem encouraging to see so many young lions, sadly, only one in five cubs is likely to survive to adulthood.
According to researchers, the leading cause of death is infanticide. When new males take over a pride, one of the first things they do is kill cubs to bring females into estrus.
Most common big cat
By the time the last pride members crossed the road, Park had seen a total of 17 lions. Consequently, he was more than happy to watch them disappear over the horizon.
As members of the Big Five, sightings of lions are highly sought by visitors to Kruger. The good news is that they are by far the most frequently seen predator, particularly in the central plains.