Assume nothing and expect the unexpected!
On a recent morning game drive, these two phrases held true once again. A lioness… in a marula tree… feeding on an ostrich – and it still sounds absurd every time I say it. After a long morning of tracking lions, ranger Robyn Morrison and I got the call over the radio from tracker Jerry Sibiya, he had found the lions. He could see two lions in the distance, under a marula tree. Excited that the tracking mission had come to fruition, we scurried across to see the lions.
Upon arriving at what Jerry had seen, you can only imagine my utter bewilderment when we saw a third lion up in the marula tree feeding on the remains of a carcass!
Not as comfortable feeding on a carcass in the limbs of a marula tree as a leopard would be, this Mhangeni Lioness had her claws splayed and gripping tightly, and her tail curled around the branches to maintain her balance while feeding on the remains of the ostrich.
First of all, although lions aren’t built to gracefully climb trees, it would be wrong to assume that they don’t. Ranger Nick Tennick has recently discussed the tree-climbing abilities of lions and the reasons they are willing to do so. The second assumption that nearly caught me out was thinking that the lioness was feeding on the remains of an impala carcass. The simple fact that the carcass was hoisted into a tree points to it being stored there by a leopard, and impalas are the most common prey species of leopards. The fact that it was an ostrich was rather unexpected and got us wondering which leopard would have gone after an ostrich. There was later evidence, in the form of a female and a young male leopard’s tracks found nearby, to back this assumption; in other words, we believe the Ximungwe Female and the Ntomi Male were the culprits.
Already blown away by this unique sighting of a lioness reaching towards the higher branches of the marula tree, I had to assure myself, tracker Geshom Mathebula, and my guests that the very little remains that we could still make out of the kill were, in fact, those of an ostrich. Put all of this together, and it was certainly a reminder that one can always expect the unexpected in the wild!
Aside from the claws extended from the sheath, you can notice the feather to the right of her paws and the unique foot structure of the ostrich above the lion’s head.
Without a doubt, this is one of the most unique sightings I have witnessed, so if you haven’t already, make sure you watch this virtual safari, as Sean Zeederberg tells the story from his side. As Sean mentions, I am happy to report that I did have my camera with me that morning, and I trust you will enjoy the results…
Another lioness from the Mhangeni Pride and one of the Plains Camp Males gaze up into the marula tree and wait for any scraps to fall to the ground.
She even managed to find a comfortable spot to groom herself and soak up the morning sunshine.
It has been a while since I last saw the Plains Camp Males so it was great to see this brother looking as impressive as ever.
Kelsey Clark
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