This display of competition between cats was caught on camera by Elize Roets, a 34-year-old Animal Communicator at Phalaborwa. She was on the H14 at the Ngobeni Shortloop when she came across the sighting.
Elize told Latest Sightings that she had taken a drive to one of her “favourite spots to sit at to enjoy the tranquility nature has to offer” before she moved on to a place where “there were already many cars with spectators at the scene”.
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She found out that the Nandzana pride of lions had successfully brought down a hippo in the river, and were now lounging around as they enjoyed their meal. Hyenas had already arrived according to Elize, but it wasn’t the usual suspects who were planning thievery this time.
The Calm Before The Storm
There were no males from the Nandzana pride at the site, but Elize noted “5 females and about 7 cubs” although from where she was standing she could “only see some of the cubs and the movement of some of the females”.
Despite the presence of the hyenas, the lions seemed confident in their ability to defend their food, and were secure in their control over the scene of the meal. Several lionesses even reclined on the ground.
Their cubs were moving around happily, and the pride itself was clearly not at any kind of alert, which meant they hadn’t yet noticed what was coming their way.
A Stealthy Approach
Two male lions were slowly but surely creeping closer to the site where the Nandzana pride was feeding. Their approach and measured pace seemed to carry an ominous feeling which conveyed their intention and strength.
The two curious cats, which Elize later found out belonged to the Sable Dam pride, wound their way through the trees unseen by the females and their cubs, sniffing out some food they could steal.
Unfriendly Competition
Eliza said she had seen “the two male lions approaching from the West but they were stealthy and made no sound at all”, which allowed them to get close to the Nandzana pride before they revealed themselves.
Most of the Nandzana pride, and all of the cubs, made a hurried exit when they saw the two males from the Sable Dam pride, but some of the lionesses decided to protect their meal.
Eliza said “that’s when the chasing and the fighting started – my heart was in my throat as I knew there were cubs!” The attacking lions encircled the defending lionesses and chased them away, routing them from the kill they were claiming.
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Feline Theft
The lionesses of the Nandzana pride didn’t relinquish their meal easily, but the two males were strong enough to force them out of the area completely and keep the hippo for their own.
In the dust thrown up by the contest the fate of the Nandzana pride was unclear, but Elize was lucky enough to find them later that same day and she said “luckily every Lioness and cub was accounted for”.
Seeing predators compete like this can be exhilarating, or worrying when there are cubs involved, but Elize advises safari goers to “stay calm because no matter what happens, we know that it’s a part of nature”.