Mike sent in some very cool photos he took in an area called the “cotton fields”. We call it that because it is an open area, where many decades ago someone tried to grow cotton (but very unsuccessfully and hence gave up very soon), and so this area is still opened up to this day. This is one of the many great areas on the reserve for predators to hunt. I myself witnessed a failed wild dog chase in this area, so it is one of those high-risk areas (for prey, not for our guests!!!).

Mike spotted a lioness on the cotton fields, and she was preying on a bunch of warthogs. Bacon was clearly on her menu for breakfast.

Our guests were thrilled to see a kill attempt, but alas, the attempt failed, and the bacon was for another time. For a lion to have a kill success rate of over 50% is quite the achievement, and many male lions struggle to exceed 10%. Lionesses are much more experienced, so some of them exceed 50%, but that’s at a more advanced stage in their lives. It’s all about practice and experience!

Many warthog sows have now given birth to their litters, and it will take 6 months to wean them off. So they grow up fast. During this time there is increased danger for them, as they are not fast enough yet, and are very vulnerable. By the way: warthog sows have been observed to “adopt” and raise other sows’ litters, if they have lost their own. This is called “kin altruism”, so warthogs are social breeders.