Dominant Vumbura Male Lion attacks Hyaena
It was a happy hyaena, that is at least what it looked like. A few hyaenas were chewing away on the leftovers from a lion kill made earlier this morning. An unknown lion pride had caught an unsuspecting wildebeest in what is known as "Big Red Territory", the name referring to the mane of the dominant male lion in the north west of the Kwedi concession. They had just moved off, seemingly in a rush, as we arrived at the scene of the kill. But why so hasty? There were clearly not enough hyaenas to seriously threaten them.
20 minutes later, hyaenas still in feeding frenzy, we heard some zebra alarm calls in the distance. Shortly followed by a stampede of zebra on the horizon. Whatever had frightened the zebras, was coming our way. Another 10-15 minutes later we could make out the huge reddish mane of "Big Red", steering a clear course to the place of action. The hyaenas kept staring in his direction and all of us agreed that they must have seen Big Red approaching them in the high grass. He was still far away, leaving plenty of time for the hyaenas to keep on chewing. Big Red seemed on a mission, he moved fast and in a straight line until he was about 100 meters away, continuously being checked on by the hyaenas. He then lay down in the grass, observing the kill. The hyaenas clearly did not take this guy seriously enough as they did not realise when Big Red slowly emerged from his resting place and started to stalk them.
I was thrilled to get some lion-hyaena action as it had been a while since a had witnessed my last clash of these eternal enemies. None of us expected anything but a little chase by a lazy and way to slow male lion, however, things turned out differently. Big Red slowly crept forward, inching closer and closer by the minute. He was getting decent cover from the hyaenas in the grass, we had him continuously in sight. The game drive vehicle clearly had a better viewpoint than the hyaenas, however, we all agreed again that they must have been aware of his approach as they continuously scanned around.
Big Red was closing in, he took his time, inch by inch, meter by meter. He must have been about 25-30 meters away when he bursted into attack mode and came full speed towards the hyaenas. I was hoping for this as the vehicle was in a great position to photograph him running straight towards the camera. I was still convinced he would never be fast enough to get anywhere close to the hyaenas, as a result I had my 70-200mm telephoto lens mounted. I was wrong. The hyaenas were completely surprised by the attack and only realised the bad news when he was within 8-10 meters. Too late for one of them! I was still shooting with my 70-200mm lens when I realised he was going to catch one of them right in front of our eyes. I definitely had the wrong lens for this close action.
Before I could change my lens, Big Red grabbed one of the hyaenas by its neck/shoulder region. The hyaena screamed like hell, she had all the reason to. Big Red held it in a very strong grip. As they kept rolling in the grass, I kept shooting. It did not look good for the hyaena. I was certain Big Red was going to finish her off, not for a meal, but purely for territorial reasons. Lions will kill any potential competitor.
Surprisingly, Big Red suddenly let the hyaena go. Perhaps he just wanted to give it a warning or maybe he thought mortal wounds had already been inflicted. The hyaena shook itself off and simply trotted away. It had serious wounds on its neck and was bleeding heavily. As the hyaena walked away, we were certain it would not survive the next few days.
Big Red was still in a rage, searching for the invading lions. We followed Big Red for another hour and a half as he covered about 12km before he lost the other lion's scent. We then lost his tracks in the dense vegetation. What an exciting morning !! Vumbura and Little Vumbura did it again, delivering yet another thrilling and intense wildlife experience!
Vumbura Camp Botswana
(pronounced Vuumbera) is an 8-roomed tented camp situated to the north of Mombo, in a private concession bordering the Moremi Game Reserve in the extreme north of the Okavango Delta.
Vumbura offers both water and land activities. Mekoros (dug-out canoes) traverse the flood plains under the guidance of polers from the BaYei tribe, who have been using mekoros as their traditional form of transport for hundreds of years. Boats take guests onto the larger and deeper areas of water (water levels permitting).
Open 4x4 Land Rovers allow close proximity to animals in the savannah areas. This is possibly the only area in the Okavango where one can see Red Lechwe from a mokoro in the morning, then a Sable antelope from a game vehicle in the afternoon.
Add in Lion, Leopard, Elephant and Buffalo along with all the plains game, and one has an excellent all round game experience in a remote corner of the Okavango. Walks on the islands give guests the opportunity to enjoy Africa from a different perspective.
Each one of the 8 tented rooms has en-suite facilities with hot and cold running water, a shower, and flush toilet as well as an outdoor shower under the stars. The main dining, lounge and pub area is tucked beneath a canopy of indigenous trees with a view across the floodplain.
The camp has a plunge pool. Access into this area is only by aircraft and then by vehicle to camp. If the waters are high in winter, we may have to access the camp from the airstrip by mekoros or boat.
Little Vumbura Camp Botswana
is a beautiful six roomed tented camp situated to the north of Mombo in a private reserve bordering the Moremi Game Reserve in the northern reaches of the Okavango Delta. Little Vumbura offers both water and land activities, as well as walks for those who are keen. Mekoros (dug-out canoes) traverse the flood plains under the guidance of our experienced polers.
Open 4x4 Land Rovers allow guests to get close to animals in the savannah areas. However for much of 2004, this activity will be limited due to the high annual flood waters in the Okavango. For much of the March to October period, we will be boating to dry land and only board our game viewing vehicles there. Guests usually have the opportunity to see Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Sable and Buffalo, along with all the plains game, providing an excellent all round game experience in this remote corner of the Okavango.
Walks (on request basis only) around the islands give guests the opportunity to enjoy Africa from a different perspective. The tented rooms are large and comfortably appointed, with an en-suite bathroom with hot and cold running water, a shower, and flush toilet - and an outside shower under the stars.
The camp has a plunge pool too. Access into this area is only by aircraft and if the water levels are high in winter, a mokoro trip and / or a boat will transfer guests to camp.
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Posted by vacationtechnician at April 3, 2004 03:34 PM | TrackBack