Though living with deteriorating vision, the determined lioness refused to give in when the odds seemed against her. She continued to prove her mettle as a hunter, productive pride member and mother. Photographer Pete Leyland recalled her story from Addo Elephant National Park.
He remembered her with a special fondness: “One thing that was clear was that her eyesight deteriorated over time. However, her sight was perfectly fine when I first saw her in 2009.”
And what a beauty she was!
Josie at around 16 months near Spekboom hide. At the time, she was still hanging out with Norman and Zwaai (2009).
From small beginnings
Josie was born in August 2008 together with her brother Zwaai. Her mom was Gina, the first lioness to be born in Addo Elephant Park since lions were reintroduced in 2003.
Gina’s mom was Kamkwa (one of the original six lions reintroduced from the Kgalagadi) and she also had a male cub called Norman, about a month before Gina gave birth. So with the two moms sticking together, the 3 cubs grew up together.
Kamkwa was moved out from the main game area about a year later, and so Josie was almost always found to be hanging out with her mom Gina, often in the southern areas of the park.
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Gina in front, Josie behind (2014).
Gina had three cubs again in July 2014 but died as a result of a suspected snakebite in early December 2014 when the cubs were still quite young.
Gina with her cubs. Josie is behind them (2014).
A mother-daughter bond worth commending
It seems that Josie continued to look after Gina’s cubs until she herself had her first litter of three cubs in late December 2014.
“Gina’s cubs effectively went missing, and despite the park searching regularly for them, it appeared that they would have likely fallen prey to hyena,” said Pete.
Josie (2015).
However, the speculations around the cubs’ fate were wrong! Amazingly, in mid January 2015 they were found alive and helped back to full health.
Josie and cubs (2015).
Josie becomes first-time mom
Josie’s first cubs were one male, Fielies, and two females, Dawn and Duffy, who remained with Josie for the rest of her life. Fielies was moved to Kuzuko and is the coalition partner of Sylvester, the lion who broke out of Karoo National Park on a few occasions.
Josie (2016).
Pete recalled when Josie first started to develop sight problems: “I’m not sure exactly when or how we started to realise that Josie had eyesight problems, but by around 2016 it had become clear that she behaved differently around vehicles; almost as though they weren’t as obvious to her as they were to the other lions.”
The lioness also slowly developed a unique way of walking, kind of swinging her paws in front of her in an arc, which helped her feel any obstacles.
Left to right Fielies, Duffy, Dawn and Josie (2016).
“There were no obvious signs in her eyes at that stage that there was anything wrong, but it became well-known that she was experiencing diminished vision, and we even had one occasion where she nearly walked into our parked car,” Pete explained. “Only by banging on the door as she approached did she then realise she was on a collision course with us, and turned away just in time. In the years after that, we saw her collide with bushes from time to time and heard that a few cars also got walked into.”
Deteriorating sight doesn’t stop determined lioness
Still, the brave lioness continued to give life her all. Despite her deteriorating eyesight, she remained an exceptionally good hunter by adapting to her disability.
“Dawn and Duffy would always be willing to share their kills with her, but at the same time Josie became adept at digging warthog out of their burrows at night,” said Pete. “People often used to wonder what she would do without Dawn and Duffy, but the simple answer is she would have been totally fine, as she was always self-sufficient.”
A very brief sighting of Josie with her cubs on Vukani Loop on the way up to Mountain Zebra National Park (2017).
Josie welcomes in second litter of cubs
In late March 2017, Josie had her second litter of three male cubs, who were moved to Madikwe National Park in April 2019.
Josie’s three new cubs (2017).
Josie’s sight deteriorates
However, her sight continued to deteriorate. By early 2020, Josie started to develop what looked like a cataract in her right eye. This was possibly the result of damage during hunting.
Josie (2020).
“The Covid pandemic meant that we hadn’t seen Josie for quite a while, and by this point when we found her along the Addo Heights road, she had developed what appeared to be a cataract in her right eye,” Pete recalled.
Duffy approaching Josie (2024).
“This continued to get worse to the point that it became enlarged and red. We understand that the park’s vets were not keen to intervene as it could have made things worse.”
As a result, Josie became very recognisable to guests to the reserve and to the rangers due to her obvious eye condition.
Josie approaching Duffy. Their bond is clearly evident (2025).
“Her other eye always looked good, but by July 2024 it appeared to glaze over as well, and provided her with very little vision, so she must have relied heavily on her other senses when moving around the park and hunting,” said Pete.
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A long journey worth remembering
Josie, Dawn and Duffy would almost always be found together until Josie’s death in 2025.
“Sadly, Duffy also passed away in June 2026, leaving Dawn as the only remaining lioness in the main game area from the bloodline of lions originally relocated to the park in 2003.”
The journey of a champion: Josie (2025).
The other lions currently in the main game area are two males relocated from the Rooiputs area of Kgalagadi, and two females relocated from the Khamab Kalahari Game Reserve, along with their four youngsters who were born in the park in November 2025.
“Josie really was a true fighter, successfully raising two sets of cubs and living to the ripe old lion age of 17.”
–Pete Leyland
