Two Rhinos and Land Rover                              Small Zebra herd                 

Oxpeckers are birds that feed on parasitic insects that prey on the large animals, such as elephants and rhinos, in the bush. We had seen one giraffe that had raw sores on it's neck from the Ox Peckers feeding on the parasites and apparently on the giraffe too. Rhino skin is too tough for the birds to penetrate them very much. Rhinos, like elephants, also like to take mud baths to discourage the insects. Giraffes haven't gotten the word about the benefits of mud baths. They would be too vulnerable to attack if they rolled in the mud. Getting back on their feet is a bit awkward for the gangly animals.

 Further along, in a grassy area with few trees, we encountered a small herd of Zebras. They were peacefully grazing in the waist high grass, again oblivious to our presence. Suddenly a pride of five female lions came into view on the edge of the grassy field. We thought that they had been stalking the zebras, but they hurried by like they were late for a meeting. They disappeared again into the bush. Neither lions nor zebras gave notice of one another. We decided to follow the lions to see if they might have made a kill. We finally caught up with them lounging in a clearing along a border fence, the only one we had encountered in our safaris. The lions apparently had already held their meeting and were on break.

The rangers were always in radio contact with one another, so that if one found an animal of interest they can relay the location to the others. Along toward sunset we encountered another herd of elephants and had driven into them. There were at least three baby elephants, one of which was barely three feet tall. While watching them we received a call on the radio that a pair of male lions were stalking a herd of Impalas. We hurried to the location and found two scraggly looking male lions looking intently at the Impalas about 75 yards away. Our driver pulled within twenty feet of the nearest lion. In a very short time the lions lost interest in the hunt. Male lions don't usually hunt, relying on the females to make the kill and then chasing them off until he has eaten his fill. Young males without their own pride have to fend for themselves, but they are lousy hunters. These two, whose ribs were showing beneath their fur, looked like they could use a good meal.  

    Hungry young male lion                                    His Impala Antelope dinner, he hopes.

The two lions started looking at us. It ran through our minds that maybe we were suddenly on the menu since the Impalas had given them the slip. The nearest lion got to his feet and started walking toward us, looking intently at my wife who was sitting on the lion's side of the vehicle. She visibly stiffened as he got nearer. When he was about ten feet from her he turned and wandered off behind the vehicle, and the other lion followed. My wife heaved an audible sigh and said, "Thank you Jesus."

Toread more see  "Elephants and Hippos" published 09/18/2007.