Kings of the Savannah: Yorkshire wildlife artist Robert Fuller travelled to Kenya’s Masai Mara this month and got caught up in a ferocious territorial dispute between lions.
I woke with a start in the middle of the night; some hyenas behind our camp were going crazy. Their loud, excited calls suggested only one thing: a conflict with lions.
Hyena clans in the Masai Mara can be huge, sometimes numbering up to 60 in a pack. They make a loud whooping noise to muster up extra troops when hoping to overthrow lions from a kill.
As the noise got louder, I reached for the earplugs and tried to grab some sleep. I wanted to be up before dawn.
The following morning the other campers were also blurry-eyed. We all talked about the racket in the night.
Then, after a quick bowl of porridge, we set off. I like to photograph wildlife as the sun rises, which means finding it while it is still twilight.
The noise had come from directly behind the camp, but thick bush meant we had to take a long route round.
Soon I spotted a hyena walking off with a wildebeest’s ribcage. Maybe we were too late?
A few more, very full hyenas headed past and back to their den or to wallow in muddy pools to cool off. They have very strong digestive juices and if they’re not careful they can overheat.
Then we found the kill site. All that was left were the contents of the wildebeest’s stomach and a small amount of blood. Nothing goes to waste around here.
A bit further on we came across lion upon lion. There were 10 in total, made up of a few lionesses and sub-adult teenagers.
I got some great shots as the sun broke over the horizon, but then the lions began disappearing one by one into the bush we’d driven around earlier.
Lions like a drink at dawn, especially after a busy night on a kill, and our guide, Pierre knew just the pool that they were heading for.
As I visualised a shot of 10 lions drinking in the early morning light, I spotted two handsome male lions coming out of the shadows.
I shouted: ‘Simba at three o’clock!’ At first we presumed that these were the pride males, but then I noticed that they were sniffing the ground with intent.
Suddenly their pace quickened and they disappeared into the bush, following the route the others had taken just minutes earlier. I realised that they were actually tracking the other lions. And they clearly meant business.
We sped back to the other side of the bush, just in time to see two young lions fleeing in opposite directions. The pride of 10 had scattered. Young lions were lost and the lionesses were confused and scared.
Rightly so. If the big males caught up with them they would kill them. This pride of 10 had obviously encroached on their territory.
Then three young lions tried to make a break for cover. But one of the big males set off, hot on their heels. All four headed straight to camp.
All hell broke loose. The lions raced by the mess tent and kitchen, some shot directly behind my tent, and people ran in all directions, clanking pots and shouting.
Two red-clad Masai warriors, who were paid to guard camp, leapt into action. They chased the male lions on foot, armed with their spears.
In cartoon style, we saw the lions disappearing over the horizon back into their own territory.
The 10 pride lions were still separated. They were too scared to call each other in case the big males heard them.
It was a relief when they eventually reunited and we watched the lioness greet them back, one by one.
As they meandered down the valley to meet up with their own pride male, they stopped and turned in the warm breeze to look back our way. They looked like chess pieces on the horizon – safe again.
The following evening as we pulled into camp for supper, we saw a lion cross the track, quickly followed by another nine.
They were back, less than 100 metres from camp. They obviously hadn’t learnt their lesson.
A big storm was building in the north and the odd flash of lightning added to the drama.
I walked to my tent accompanied by one of the Masai warriors that had seen off the lions the previous day. I joked that he only had one spear but that there were 10 lions out there.
He just smiled as he turned into the darkness. I was following so close I nearly walked into his spear myself.
|
Wildlife Diary -
