Rooiputs

[Peter Betts]

The next waterhole north is Kij Kij and it was great to see little cubs again..Mom looked like a Lioness NOT to be messed with ..Those eyes spoke volumes to me

[Lisbeth]

Lovely and great colours

[Richprins]

There is something strange about these lions, Peter, unless that is just the coincidence of the pics? Are they wilder than the normal KTP bunch?

[Lisbeth]

They do not look wilder in any way to me. Lions are lions and these lions move around in KTP together with all the others

[Peter Betts]

They are true Wilderness Lions ...large territories and fitter than their Kruger Cousins as there is hard hunting to be had here ....Also its a tough life with Porcupine their most common prey ... so feeding moms have to travel far to catch to replenish Milk supplies and as a result a very high cub mortality rate ...compared to the relatively easy life of the Lowveld cats

[Richprins]

And they eat branches to supplement their diet, it seems!

[Peter Betts]

Yes everyone has to eat salad

[Peter Betts]

Talking about mealtimes...It was interesting to watch the lionesses ..usually drinking at the trough at dark 07h00 , then walking north towards Kij Kij and as the sun rose higher they usually picked up the sight of prey sometimes nearly a km ahead ..Which instantly got them locked on and into hunting mode like here ..In 100% of cases I witnessed ..the wily Gemsbok were long gone by the time the lion halved the distance..Here is one of those careful approaches underway

[Flutterby]

Some great images!

[Peter Betts]

Lions are inquisitive and I am convinced if you see the same individuals on most mornings for periods longer than a week they begin to recognise you and want to get closer in their own ways ..This particular lioness soon got acquainted and on some days towards the end of my 18 day stay she would deliberately veer from her parallel to the road route and come steadily towards me maintaining great eye contact all the while and I found this truly exciting..welcome to my world and me to hers. On this occassion I was the only Human on Planet Earth there ..Truly very spoilt and privaleged