My Affair with the Lions
Early on one Saturday morning the GVI research team helped to locate two adult lions (Panthera leo) living on Karongwe Private Game Reserve. Zero the dominant male and Maggie a mature female had to be found for a darting to re-collar them with new radio collars. Karongwe’s two research focus lions are huge animals. While sedated and lying at rest, Zero took up the entire length and width of a pick-up truck bed, his shoulder stands over a meter in height and he weighs in at 230 kilos, just less than 450 pounds. We helped to pour and rub cool water over his coat to keep his body temperature down while the veterinarian monitored his vital signs. Another wildlife veterinarian set out to dart Maggie, who arrived later in another pick-up on a huge mattress with handles. The volunteers helped unload Maggie from the truck and gently position her in the shade so her health could be quickly checked and she could be re-collared before her sedative wore off.
Zero and Maggie are gorgeous and spectacular animals when awake, it is so amazing to look into their golden eyes as they stare you down at close range, but to rub and touch them while they were sedated was amazing. Zero’s whole body is solid, magnificently contoured muscle, covered by a sleek coat of shiny fur that is more course and short than I would have imagined. My favorite were his paws; each front paw is literally bigger than my face, but looks exactly like that of a house cat, right down to the rough pads made for silent stalking and retractable claws set on their bony knuckles.
I felt elated and amazed to be present and have the chance to get so close to an animal I’ve been admiring for the past four weeks of my expedition. My excitement was only matched by the joy I felt at seeing Zero and Maggie the next morning, less than 24 hours after awaking from their re-collaring. They and the rest of the pride had taken down a large female Kudu and by the time we found them in the morning sun just before 8:00am, they had consumed about 50% of their most recent meal. Zero was dragging the heavy carcass through the tall golden grass into the shade of an Acacia tree to finish off his breakfast.
Amber Herzog Lyman, Volunteer, USA
Zero and Maggie are gorgeous and spectacular animals when awake, it is so amazing to look into their golden eyes as they stare you down at close range, but to rub and touch them while they were sedated was amazing. Zero’s whole body is solid, magnificently contoured muscle, covered by a sleek coat of shiny fur that is more course and short than I would have imagined. My favorite were his paws; each front paw is literally bigger than my face, but looks exactly like that of a house cat, right down to the rough pads made for silent stalking and retractable claws set on their bony knuckles.I felt elated and amazed to be present and have the chance to get so close to an animal I’ve been admiring for the past four weeks of my expedition. My excitement was only matched by the joy I felt at seeing Zero and Maggie the next morning, less than 24 hours after awaking from their re-collaring. They and the rest of the pride had taken down a large female Kudu and by the time we found them in the morning sun just before 8:00am, they had consumed about 50% of their most recent meal. Zero was dragging the heavy carcass through the tall golden grass into the shade of an Acacia tree to finish off his breakfast.
Amber Herzog Lyman, Volunteer, USA
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