Just before the start of the AM drive on Sunday, March 8, Brent spotted most of the members of the Nkuhuma Pride and two of the Matimba Coalition males at Gowrie Dam. He stayed with the group for about an hour and a half while they slept and lazed about.
Scott then joined the sighting at 7:30am, spotting some buffalo headed in the lions’ direction, and suspected that things were about to get interesting. But the lions remained unfazed by their presence. An hour later, one female suddenly had a change of heart, when a buffalo separated itself from the rest by the water’s edge.
When the buffalo decided to have a lie down, she pounced, alerting the animal, who stood to face her. She kept her distance, sizing up the buffalo, but was chased off when another bull came to the first’s aid. The rest of the lions then sensed the opportunity for them to make a kill and gradually made their way closer to the buffalo. They were having none of it, and chased the cats off again.
The lions soon realised that the buffalo were not having any of it and chose to spare themselves possible injury and move off. They made their way to Quarantine next, and en route a lioness managed to kill a tortoise. She successfully cracked open it’s shell and fed on the reptile for a short while, then picked up the carcass and ran off to join the rest of her pride.
They encountered a kudu next, and made another attempt at hunting. They were quickly spotted out in the open by their would-be prey and evaded. It seemed like these cats were found wanting that day, but despite their blunders, they are successful hunters, as evidenced by their healthy condition.
It is certain, that the Matimbas and the Nkuhuma Pride will provide us with many more great sightings and entertaining drives on SafariLIVE in future.
