June 2009 : Grumeti Reserves, Tanzania

THE MATING PAIR

The Nayasarori pride has not only provided hours of fun with the cubs but one of the lionesses came into oestrus and some mating activity has been observed. The 4 day ritual is characterised by lots of asking / persuading / coaxing from the male in the first few days which is usually not met with much cooperation from the female. However, the 20 minute copulation interval over the 4 days had left the male exhausted and the last few days (when the female is actually ovulating) had him trying his best to keep up with a now very enthusiastic female.

 

A DAYTIME TOPI AND ZEBRA HUNT

At this time of year the long grass is very conducive to some great daytime hunts. The Butamtam pride has really came into their own during the daylights hours and on no less than 3 occasions did we witness mid-morning hunts, with only 1 of them successful - a wildebeest. A large herd of topi and zebra were the target on this particular day as the pride spread out and begun their stalk. What initially looked like action for sure ended up being a failure as the lions simply ran out of cover. The large herd instinctually headed for the shorter grass when they became aware of the threat.

THE BABOON CIRCUS

On another day the same pride decided to harass a troop of Olive baboons. These confident primates had a few close calls as the lions (almost playfully) harassed them in the trees of the Raho stream. The fun and games are always humorous as the normally very brazen baboons are scared out their wits while a lioness attempted to climb into their safe refuge. Suddenly the branches did not seem so safe…

July promises to be an exciting month with the migration in full swing!

Text and pictures by Lee Fuller Singita Grumeti Reserves Serengeti, Tanzania 30 June 2009