Tag: Lion

Lion spotted outside home in Kenya isn’t what it appears to be

Armed wildlife officers responded to reports of a lion hiding in a hedge outside a home, but they found something far different, and not a threat at all.

The Kenya Wildlife Service received numerous reports of a lion hiding in a hedge outside a home in Meru County and dispatched three armed wildlife officers to the scene to handle a possible Human Wildlife Conflict case.

They cautiously approached the homestead where the lion had been spotted and immediately relaxed when they discovered the feline that was causing alarm in Kiangua, just east of Mount Kenya National Park.

That’s because the lion was actually a shopping bag with a realistic image of a lion’s head on it, as reported by the BBC and the Kenya Wildlife Service.

“We treated the incident with a lot of caution and seriousness,” local chief Cyrus Mbijiwe told the BBC. “We first ensured everyone was safe then wildlife officials investigated and discovered that it was a bag.”

Mbijiwe said there hadn’t been any sightings of stray lions in the area, but residents complained that some of their livestock had gone missing.

From the BBC:

The bag had been placed in the hedge by the home owner, who had put some avocado tree seedlings in it and wanted to stop them drying out…

The homestead owner was away when the wildlife wardens were called. When she arrived back home, she was told about the lion and was advised to enter her house through the door on the opposite side of the building from the hedge, so she didn’t immediately connect the report with the bag containing her seedlings.

“Despite this being a false alarm, we laud the public for raising an alarm in order to mitigate a possible conflict,” the KWS stated on Facebook.

Photos courtesy of the Kenya Wildlife Service.

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Watch: Flat tire leads to ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ sighting of lion stalking lion

Guide Aiden Blake in Africa’s Dinokeng Game Reserve heard of a lion sighting, but when he went to investigate he was delayed–thankfully. Video shows what happened.

Was it a playful prank? Was it a challenge for dominance over the territory? Was it just a feline doing what felines do?

We’ll never know for certain what the motive was of one male lion sneaking up on a napping male lion, but the sighting was a once-in-a-lifetime event for a safari guide and his clients, thanks to a flat tire, of all things.

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Guide Aiden Blake was leading a safari in Dinokeng Game Reserve in South Africa when he heard of a lion napping in the brush. So he started driving to the location only to get delayed because of a flat tire.

“En route, I had a flat tire and, of course, had to change it first,” he told Latest Sightings, which posted his video.

He arrived just in time to see a lion stalking a napping lion.

Remarkably, the sleeping lion seemed to react an instant before the other lion pounced. The felines got into a “minor brawl” before going “straight back to sleeping again soon after,” Blake told Latest Sightings.

“This truly was a once-in-lifetime sighting for me and just really goes to show everything happens for a reason. Had it not been for the flat tire, we would probably not have experienced this.”

Because of the delay to change the tire, Blake arrived on the scene at just the perfect moment. Otherwise, they’d have missed the awesome encounter.

Photo courtesy of Latest Sightings.

Watch: Brave lion swats massive rhino’s tail, as if on a dare

In what was described as a “most phenomenal encounter,” amused tourists witnessed a playful lion mustering the courage to swat the tail of a massive white rhino.

In what was described as a “most phenomenal encounter,” amused tourists witnessed a playful lion mustering the courage to swat the tail of a massive white rhino.

The accompanying footage, captured last week at Mongena Private Game Lodge in South Africa, shows young lions of the Nkawu pride circling two rhinos grazing in a meadow.

“The youngsters were so intrigued by these enormous animals that the one ended up fly-swatting the tail of one of the rhinos,” the lodge stated on Facebook.

One viewer observed: “I love how he stretches the hand and only touches the rhino, then runs.”

To which the lodge responded, “Possibly dared by the others?”

In the footage, the lions are, indeed, wary in the company of such powerful and unpredictable beasts. But at the 30-second mark one lion inches close enough to tap a rhino’s tail with its paw.

Both rhinos turned to face the startled lions, and that signaled the end of the game.

The Mongena Private Game Lodge bills itself as a Big 5 lodge, in reference to iconic animals known to roam within its boundaries: lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants, and buffalo.

–Image courtesy of Mongena Private Game Reserve

Watch: Courageous zebra rescues baby from lion attack

The accompanying footage, showing a mother zebra rushing to the rescue of her foal under attack by a female lion, might be difficult for some to watch.

The accompanying footage, showing a mother zebra rushing to the rescue of her foal under attack by a female lion, might be difficult for some to watch.

But the footage, captured by Mmbangiseni Milton Tshiolol in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, appears to have a happy ending in that momma zebra’s furious charge – and kick to the lion’s head – persuades the stunned predator to at least temporarily abandon its hunt.

https://www.facebook.com/100003045871320/videos/3555005701392629/

The footage, shared Wednesday to the Kruger Sightings Facebook page, appears to have been captured from a photo safari vehicle.

Tshiolol, at the time of this post, had not responded to an inquiry by FTW Outdoors.

Reads one of the top comments: “Absolutely amazing, the strength of a mom’s love for her young.”

Reads another comment, pertaining to concerns over the baby zebra’s possible injuries: “That young foal will be fine, have seen throat holds that lasted twice as long and they survive without more than a bruising.”

Watch: Critters scatter as furious lion reclaims prize

Rare footage out of South Africa reveals the remarkable ability of lions – as kings of the jungle – to emphatically clear animals from a desired area.

Rare footage out of South Africa reveals the remarkable ability of lions – as kings of the jungle – to emphatically clear animals from a desired area.

The footage, captured by Rushada Schutte at Timbavati Game Reserve, shows more than a dozen vultures and hyenas feasting on an elephant carcass that had briefly been abandoned by a male lion.

“Our resident male lion went for some water by the river causing all the hyenas and vultures to descend onto the carcass,” Schutte, a field guide at Timbavati, described via social media. “But he could not have made a better entrance upon his return.”

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A post shared by Rushada (@rushadaschutte11)

Schutte told ForTheWin Outdoors that the “crazy sighting’ occurred in early March. She explained that the lion has been nursing a leg injury, noticeable in the footage, for months.

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Schutte said the injury, perhaps sustained in a fight with another lion, has diminished the lion’s chances of surviving. “So this elephant carcass was a saving grace,” Schutte added.

The lion had been feasting on the carcass for a few days before Schutte captured her footage, which shows that the large cat still possesses plenty of fury and determination.

–Lion image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Watch: ‘Fantastic sighting’ of lion surprising hyena has unlikely outcome

A safari guide waiting years for such an encounter captured video of a lion stalking a hyena, along with the unexpected result.

A safari guide at Sanbona Wildlife Reserve in South Africa took a chance by leaving a hippo he had found for his clients to potentially view a lion stalking a hyena, an encounter he had been waiting years to witness—and it was unfolding minutes away.

“One of the guides called in a brown hyena sighting, but with a youngish lioness stalking it,” Jordan Davidson, 36, explained to LatestSightings.com. “We were a few minutes’ drive away, and my initial thought was that we’re going to miss the action. I took the chance, and spoke to my guests and told them the situation. We decided to leave the hippo in a little pan and find the lioness.”

Fortunately, they arrived just in time to view the lion in the distance as it crept up on the hyena, which was busying foraging for food.

“As we approached the area, we spotted the lioness stalking through the khanna bushes on a deeply eroded channel,” Davidson explained. “Further south along the opposite channel, we saw the hyena sniffing, walking, and foraging. It had no idea that the lioness was nearby!

“The lioness isn’t part of a pride and lives on her own for the time being. Brown hyenas live in clans but forage and scavenge on their own. They are a very cryptic animal, hardly ever seeing them out and about during the daylight hours. Luckily for us, it was a very cold morning with cloud cover, which allowed for this hyena to stay out longer. I was extremely interested in seeing how the hyena was going to defend itself against a lion whose strength is incredible.

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“I quickly managed to pull up alongside to where the hyena was situated and waited. It didn’t take long for the action to unfold. She launched her attack we were surprised to see that she didn’t finish the kill. She was possibly in a playful mood, or the hyenas’ strange noises put her off, or it could even have been that the long fur allowed the hyena to slip through her claws and confuse her.

“Nonetheless it was a fantastic sighting! I have personally been waiting years for this specific encounter to happen.”

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Watch: Small turtle shows lions who’s in charge of watering hole

The Africa lion is king of beasts, but a brave little turtle is not impressed. Watch as the turtle takes charge of its watering hole.

The Africa lion is king of beasts, but a brave little turtle is not impressed.

The accompanying footage shows a small turtle – more precisely a terrapin – swimming boldly up to a male and female lion in what initially seems a defense of its watering hole.

It’s worth watching to the end as the turtle becomes more emphatic with each encounter and the lions aren’t sure how to respond to the interruption of their important drinking time.

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The rarely observed interaction was captured by guide Reggi Barreto, 30, in the MalaMala Private Game Reserve in Greater Kruger Park.

Barreto told Latest Sightings: “I knew the lions would look for water to drink and we positioned ourselves in the perfect spot with the sunlight in our favor, ready for the sighting. What came next we did not expect – I was pleasantly surprised when the terrapin came out of the wallow towards the male and then the lioness.”

While the carnivorous terrapin might have been defending its territory, it’s more likely that the turtle detected blood on the facial hairs of the lions, which had just feasted on a zebra carcass.

Said Barreto: “It was an incredibly rare sighting for me to film – watching the terrapin approach the lions that had blood on their chins from the zebra. It seems as though the terrapin was actually more interested in getting some of that blood off the lions’ chins, as opposed to ‘chasing the lions away.’ ”

–Images courtesy of LatestSightings.com

Watch: Buffalo calf flees leopard, but can it escape lion?

A visitor to South Africa’s Kruger National Park has captured rare footage showing a buffalo calf fleeing an ambushing leopard, only to come face to face with a hungry lion.

A visitor to South Africa’s Kruger National Park has captured rare footage showing a buffalo calf fleeing a leopard that was waiting in ambush, only to come face to face with a hungry lion.

Thankfully for the calf, momma buffalo had the situation under control, at least for the time being.

The footage was captured from a vehicle in late February by Matthew Steyn and featured on Facebook by Latest Sightings, where it garnered more than 5 million views. A longer YouTube version accompanies this post.

Viewers can see the leopard crouching in the bushes, awaiting its chance to strike the calf in the riverbed, and the lion stalking in the background.

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“We stopped in the riverbed to watch a herd of buffalo,” Steyn told Latest Sightings. “Among the herd, we noticed a brand newborn calf that was just starting to learn how to walk for the first time. But, shortly after this, my son spotted a leopard in the reeds, right among all the buffaloes.

“After some time, the rest of the herd seemed to move off slowly, leaving the mother and calf behind – alone. The mother and calf were completely unaware of the leopard. But now, not only the leopard, a lion decided to show up.”

Momma buffalo ends the leopard threat quickly, sniffing its presence and chasing the cat away as the lion, sensing an opening, trots warily toward the calf.

But momma buffalo, an extremely powerful and surprisingly agile animal, quickly blocks the lion’s path and repeatedly chases the king of the jungle into the brush.

It’s unclear how this confrontation ended, however, as Steyn’s family lost sight of the animals after they crossed the dirt road in front of their vehicle.

“Unfortunately, we lost sight of the lion following the calf into the bush, but am pretty sure that newborn wouldn’t have lasted long on the run like that and not being able to suckle,” Steyn said. “Weirdly the rest of the herd never came to their rescue and were in fact headed in the opposite direction.”

–Images courtesy of Matthew Steyn, via Latest Sightings

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Lion scatters hungry hyena pack with one gesture

An old lion lying in the grass at a large national game reserve in Kenya and was looking like dinner to a pack of hungry hyenas, until…

An old lion known as Lipstick was lying in the grass at a large national game reserve in Kenya and was looking like dinner to a pack of hungry hyenas.

But then the lion put a quick end to those plans with one simple gesture.

The King of the Jungle stood up.

The video was taken in Maasai Mara—or The Mara, to locals—and was posted on Masaai Sightings’ YouTube page.

Maasai Sightings said the old male lion was “surrounded by a hyena clan and looked in trouble for a second until he stood up and the clan proceeded to run away. The clan probably noticed his old age and thought they could mess with him until they realized they were in over their heads and proceeded to leave him alone.”

Several of the commenters on YouTube zeroed in on Lipstick’s mane and the need of a new hairdresser.

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“He won’t get any lionesses with that hair style,” one wrote. “Fix your mane!”

“Why’s lion wearing his grandfather’s wig,” another wrote.

“LOL,” stated another, “this lion with his 1970s British hair-do.”

Finally, someone wrote, “I had the same hairstyle in the ‘80s after the rain.”

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Lion tries to open car door after tourists stop on road

As tourists watched a pride of lions in a South Africa’s Kruger National Park earlier this month, one of them tried to open their car door.

As tourists stopped to watch a pride of lions earlier this month in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, one of them tried to open their car door.

The accompanying footage, captured by Nick Shillan, shows the young male lion’s brief but determined effort to unlatch the door handle with its teeth.

The clip was posted to Facebook by Latest Sightings – Kruger on Friday with a statement explaining that tourists should not put themselves in position to allow something like this to happen.

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Some of the comments pointed to the danger of photographing lions at close proximity through open windows.

Shillan, however, told For The Win Outdoors that he had a camera tripod mounted with clamps to his window and it blocked the window’s opening. The video camera was attached to the tripod with a moveable gimbal.

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Shillan, who was with his wife Angela, said they encountered a pride of 13 lions only 20 minutes after driving into the southern portion of the park.

“I was recording the male lions roaring when I noticed that a young male was sniffing my tire,” Shillan said. “So I started to record him. By luck he started to bite the door handle.

“We then spent another 15 minutes with the rest of the pride. I was never in danger. My window was open but the camera was blocking it.”

As viewers can see, a bang to the door caused the startled lion to retreat. It’s likely that the lion was simply curious about the vehicle.

–Image courtesy of Nick Shillan