Regular contributor Deon Kelbrick sent this video to Latest Sightings. He filmed it while on a game drive in the northern Sabi Sands Game Reserve.
A line of lions
We join the action in Deon’s video to see a pride of lions walking in a line. Nothing unusual about that, except that they are walking in the water.
As the camera zooms out, we see that a total of five lions are making their way to the putrefied remains of Cape buffalo. The group consists of an adult lioness and four sub-adults.
Unfortunately, no information is available explaining how the buffalo lost its life. What is clear by the state of decay is that it has been there for some time.
And, it is probably this sorry state, or the odour thereof, that drew the lions to the carcass in the first place.
Out of their depth
While the lioness appears quite relaxed as she gnaws away at the carcass, the same cannot be said for the rest of the pride. They look out of their depth in every sense of the phrase.
And with good reason, there is a distinct possibility that crocodiles inhabit the dam.
Eat when you can
However, after a while, the sub-adults settle down and join the lioness in feasting on the flanks of the buoyant carcass.
For predators, no meal is guaranteed, so it is best to eat when food is available. Even if it does look rather rotten.
What set them off?
What happens next is unclear. In one scene, the lions seem to be feeding quite contentedly, only occasionally scanning their surroundings.
The video then cuts to a new scene that shows most of the lions making a dash for the shoreline. Initially, one of the lions stays behind, but as her pride mates flee, she too sets off.
However, there is no indication that might inform us what caused them to abandon their meal in such a fashion.
More lions
As the lions make it to shore, we learn that other members of the pride, although present, did not enter the water.
All of the lions are on high alert, but unfortunately, there is still no clear evidence explaining what spooked them.
Our best guess would be that either a crocodile or a resident hippo appeared, causing the lions to flee to terra firma, where they feel safest.
Get our Best Sightings as they Come in
Not-so-regal-royalty
For some readers, it may come as a surprise to learn that lions get a fair amount of their food by scavenging. Contrary to the notion of them being regal creatures that hunt all the food they eat, they are definitely not above scavenging when the opportunity arises.
In fact, there are many benefits to scavenging over hunting.
For one, hunting is extremely energy-intensive, and the rewards do not always justify the energy expenditure. Just think of the combined energy output had this pride only managed to kill a small antelope.
Additionally, hunting carries a high risk of injury for predators. And any predator that can’t hunt due to injury is in serious trouble.
While it is true that they may have to drive off other predators to secure the carcass, lion prides generally manage to outmuscle all but the most determined competitors.
With so many mouths to feed, its easy to understand that sometimes, even royalty has to take shortcuts.