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15. Predators, Prey, Shade
2/2/2019
During a recent visit to Ethosha National Park in Namibia, we had the good fortune of getting early morning looks of two male lions.
The first lion walking into the brush
where we lost sight of him.
(Long clip - may take a while to load, but, worth it!)
The second lion stayed out in the open and was
much more cooperative. Needless to say,
we were in awe.
Interestingly, there were also many zebra and and oryx (or is it oryxes?) nearby. Of course, we immediately started wondering if these two capable looking predators were getting ready to do some hunting. We were most definitely ready to do some watching.
Is this guy about to start stalking some prey?
Though the prey were very much interested in the lions and what they were doing, the lions didn’t seem to care too much about the prey at all.
This oryx most definitely did NOT want to be
on the same side of the road as the lion.
This clip shows a pan from the oryx on the left side
of the car to the lion on the right.
Clearly someone in this footage is feeling pretty calm and casual
about his morning while another is on high alert.
This clip pans from the lion on the right, to three oryx
on the left. Eventually the lion passes directly in front,
paying almost no attention to his potential breakfast.
Watch as the oryx stand still (maybe we're invisible!)
despite their agitation....
In the end, it was pretty clear that the lions were more interested in shade than in chasing down a meal. Understandable choice given that the morning was heating up, the tropical sun was plenty strong, and, the temperatures were getting ready to climb into the upper 30s C (lower 100s F).
Ahhhh, shade.
No high drama, but plenty of good looks at some magnificent predators and prey!