{"id":373,"date":"2021-04-06T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-06T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/akanisi.me\/ro\/?p=373"},"modified":"2024-11-22T17:23:23","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T17:23:23","slug":"stories-with-lions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/akanisi.me\/en\/stories-with-lions\/","title":{"rendered":"Stories with lions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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At the onset of each dry season, the herbivores of the savanna begin to migrate north of the Serengeti plains, across the Tanzanian border and into the cooler and greener Maasai Mara hills of Kenya. When the rains return, they take the same route back. The wildebeest migration, which involves millions of animals traveling hundreds of miles in a matter of weeks, is one of the most spectacular phenomena in the natural world. It was for the privilege of that grand sight that I had come all the way to East Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the migration was not something that could be accurately predicted. At the end of July, when I was supposed to arrive, it was hard to tell whether the animals would still be in the Serengeti or already in the Maasai Mara. Occasionally, they would set off earlier than usual\u2014which is precisely what happened that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I reached the entry point to the Serengeti, the plains were already empty. To catch up to the moving herds, I would have had to travel a much longer distance than originally planned. I shared my concerns with Patrick, but he told me not to worry because he was prepared to take me wherever I wanted. At the same time, he assured me that the Serengeti had a lot to offer irrespective of the season. Its central part, in particular, which had permanent water sources, attracted a wide variety of species. It was said to be the best place to spot \u201cbig cats\u201d: lions, leopards, and cheetahs. To give weight to his promise, he added:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook, I bet we\u2019ll find plenty of lions by tomorrow night. At least ten!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found it hard to believe him. All around me, as far as the eye could see, the plains were scorched and deserted. After the animals had left, the rangers had set fire to the dry grass to clear the ground. The Thompson\u2019s gazelle\u2014a small, long-horned gazelle with a pair of thick black stripes above its belly\u2014was the only species visible on that barren land, surviving exclusively on morning dew and remnants of vegetation. This way, the delicate herbivores could enjoy their scarce food undisturbed by lions or other predators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nevertheless, after several hours of driving on the dirt road, the landscape changed radically. At last, the splendor of the African savanna I had dreamed of began to unfold before my eyes. First, the umbrella-shaped crowns of the acacia trees came into view, then a few streams meandering through bushy outcrops brought more life into the picture. Silhouettes of elephants and giraffes loomed in the background, and the big cats didn\u2019t take long to show up either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one point, we came across two majestic, amber-maned lions lazing in the grass not far from the road. They were brothers, Patrick revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow do you know they are brothers?\u201d I asked, incredulous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnly the young males roam together for a while after they leave their pride,\u201d he replied. \u201cIf they weren\u2019t related, they would tear each other apart in a second!\u201d Although we were just yards away from them, the two lions ignored us completely. The only ones that seemed to bother them were a few elephants nearby. As the pachyderms approached steadily, the two felines got up, visibly displeased, and headed in the opposite direction, careful to keep a safe distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d Patrick said. \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t mess with the big guys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind the elephants, a few giraffes were coming. Patrick clarified, like a true connoisseur:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cThese are bachelors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he continued:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGiraffes live in families too. When they grow up, the young males form \u2018gangs\u2019 of bachelors. They fight by hitting each other\u2019s necks, but that\u2019s only for training, because the loser is not excluded from the group. During the day, even if they are scattered, they always keep an eye on each other. A lion wouldn\u2019t dare attack one unless he can sneak up from behind when the giraffe is drinking water. Otherwise, a kick from a giraffe may well kill him.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cTo be fair,\u201d I provoked my interlocutor, \u201cthe lion is neither the strongest nor the most intelligent of animals. Then why is it called their king?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, I guess lions are the most efficient when it comes to killing other creatures. That is, of course, if we don\u2019t take humans into account,\u201d he replied with unexpected irony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patrick confessed to me that among all the animals of the savanna, lions were the ones that safari guests wanted to see the most. That was because the chances of seeing a bloody scene were much higher when lions were around, he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a barely concealed smile, he added:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn fact, there\u2019s another reason why lions are so admired \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d I wanted to know right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen they mate, they do it for four days in a row \u2026 and they only take very short breaks,\u201d he answered, not without a trace of envy in his voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon after, we stopped to watch two sleeping lionesses. According to Patrick, it was typical for lions to eat up to sixty pounds of meat at a time, then do nothing but lie down for several days until they got hungry again. The lionesses in question appeared to be enjoying a deep siesta, resting their round, overfed bellies in the grass. Inadvertently, we got quite close to one of them, because she was right next to the road. The sound of the engine woke her up suddenly. She opened one eye and jumped aside in confusion. It was obvious that she felt too heavy to move: she only took a few steps and then lay back on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cHow come the lions don\u2019t even seem aware of our presence?\u201d I asked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be too confident! From a lion\u2019s perspective, any living thing that moves within their sight is food,\u201d Patrick chuckled. \u201cIf we were on foot, we would certainly get their attention, but cars are different. Lions do not understand that cars are full of people and that it would be very easy for them to grab someone through the open roof. To them, a car is like a rolling stone, so they don\u2019t care about it, and they only avoid it at the last minute. Even if they sense the humans inside, it\u2019s the same as picking up someone\u2019s scent from a rock: it won\u2019t make them attack the rock, so for the same reason they won\u2019t attack the car either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found it very amusing when Patrick described to me how lions \u201cthink.\u201d He was right, nonetheless: I had noticed many open vehicles with nothing but a metal bar on each side, and the animals didn\u2019t react to them in any way. To prove his theory, my companion told me another story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cA few years ago, when I was with some guests in this area and stopped for them to take pictures, a lion suddenly jumped on top of the car. The roof hatch was raised, but fortunately everyone inside was seated. The lion didn\u2019t realize what he was standing on. You know, they love to climb on rocks and keep an eye on everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy goodness!\u201d I exclaimed. \u201cI can only imagine what the passengers went through!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIndeed,\u201d Patrick confirmed. \u201cBut it only lasted a few seconds. The lion didn\u2019t even bother to look inside. As soon as I started the engine and moved the car, he got scared and ran like crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The guide immediately interpreted the situation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor sure, when he saw the \u2018rock\u2019 moving under him, he thought it was an earthquake!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, such incidents were rare. Central Serengeti was, as Patrick had promised, the ideal place for wildlife encounters. It seemed to concentrate the very essence of Africa, like a drawing from a book of legends: umbrella crowns of acacias against the red sun, lions\u2019 manes blending into the golden grass, merry giraffes and placid elephants roaming across patches of green. . .and, most of all, a soothing peace that descended over the savanna at the end of each day, like a wave of reconciliation meant to erase the pains of the past and make way for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t get to say goodbye to those plains, though, until I became acquainted with their darker side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On our way further north, we witnessed a dramatic scene. Apparently, a group of lionesses had just attacked a wild buffalo. From what I had previously noticed about buffalo herds, their defense system was well developed: the strongest males stood at the front, while the oldest ones, along with the females and calves, remained shielded in the middle. They were massive animals, and their long, powerful horns gave them a menacing appearance. The fight with the carnivores could only have been fierce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There were casualties on both sides. One of the lionesses had been crushed under the body of a buffalo and lay there with a stiff paw in the air. The others were feasting on the prey\u2019s carcass. The head of the family, a lion with a thick, dark-brown mane, was sitting like a sphinx a few feet away, eyes fixed on the horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe roles are very clearly defined,\u201d Patrick reminded me. \u201cThe ones who hunt are the lionesses. But if they catch something, the male is the first to eat.\u201d \u201cMy, this division of tasks is not fair,\u201d I said, feigning protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, but it is,\u201d the guide assured me. \u201cThe lion\u2019s duty is to defend his territory from other males. That\u2019s the hardest and most dangerous thing to do, because no animal in the savanna is a greater threat to a pride than a nomadic lion, who would try to kill not only the head of the family but also the cubs\u2014and the lionesses would not be able to stop him. So the zebras, antelopes, and even buffalos, or whatever else the females must hunt, are easier tasks. Now, you see, the male is on guard, watching over them while they eat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although we were the only ones there when we arrived, it didn\u2019t take more than twenty minutes for the place to fill with safari cars. The guides had a habit of communicating with each other whenever they spotted something worthy of their clients\u2019 attention. Patrick was right once again: the so-called \u201caction\u201d scenes involving lions were by far the most prized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps that\u2019s why Darwin\u2019s \u201csurvival of the fittest\u201d is so often understood as the \u201ctriumph of the most aggressive,\u201d I thought. After all, the giraffes, elephants, or gazelles are no less adapted to their environment than the large predators. All species thrive and multiply, each in its own way, individually or collectively, and natural selection brings a variety of advantages\u2014including intelligence, cooperation, or empathy. Yet what earns the admiration of most humans has nothing to do with that. It has to do with killing, eating, and having sex like no other\u2014like the lions. I wondered if it was because we had chosen the wrong model or because we were drawn to what resembled us most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the onset of each dry season, the herbivores of the savanna begin to migrate north of the Serengeti plains, across the Tanzanian border and into the cooler and greener Maasai Mara hills of Kenya. When the rains return, they take the same route back. The wildebeest migration, which involves millions of animals traveling hundreds of miles in a matter…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":727,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[24,14],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/akanisi.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/akanisi.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/akanisi.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akanisi.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akanisi.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373"}],"version-history":[{"count":51,"href":"https:\/\/akanisi.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1399,"href":"https:\/\/akanisi.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions\/1399"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akanisi.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/akanisi.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akanisi.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akanisi.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}