We do see cheetahs unusually often, for sure, but then we see the lion pride even more regularly. Last week though was an exception in the sense that we saw them quasi every day. The increased safari volume, as well as increased knowledge about their movement patterns helps a lot. And they never fail to impress our guests!

The male is now approaching fully grown status, but still 1-2 years of slight growth in him. He is a true giant now already, a real sight to be seen! And he is here to stay, as the master of the only pride on the reserve. Lucky lion indeed! Most lions get more competition than that. But because of the lack of infighting, he has no scars, which makes him all the prettier. Many male lions have injury scares all over because of the constant fighting against other males, a detail little known to many. Also interesting detail: the male lions’ manes are actually there to protect them against injuries sustained in infighting, not because they are lazy hippies. OK, they are that too, very often, by the looks of it, as they hunt very little, but eat lots (mostly what the lionesses have killed for him), and think that’s ok. So yes, it is true, a lot of males are a bunch of mooching machos, for the most part of their lives, and doing very little in the domain of rearing cubs either. But the females don’t seem to mind. Go figure. hmmmm   😉

Jesse took some nice footage of the lions, on various days. Enjoy!