Zambia/Barotseland: Liuwa Plain NP – Liuwa Lion
Lion is probably the best looking lion I’ve ever seen – huge, healthy, with a massive black mane. First we saw him during the day in all his glory, and then later we spotted him in late afternoon. He was sleeping when a distant lion roar awoke him. He responded with a roar of his own, got up and started running in the direction of the roar. We followed him. Eventually we saw a female lion who was calling and leading him. He kept following her and we kept following them both. For 2km. Soon we saw another female lion. And a limping massive buffalo in the distance. Apparently, the two female lions tried taking down the buffalo, but only managed to injure him so they had to call the male lion to bring the extra power. The three of them regrouped and started casing the buffalo, almost chasing him. Seemed like a kill was imminent. All of a sudden, the grass between the lions and the buffalo came alive and a cheetah jumped out and started running. The lions put on breaks and all three of them had to chase the cheetah away (lions don’t tolerate other cats around their kill). Which gave the buffalo a chance to escape. Basically, the lions got “cheetahed”. All three lions and to turn around and came back empty handed and returned to the rest of the pride in the darkness. Who knows, maybe they took down the buffalo at night.
