On safari it’s always a bonus to find a pride of lions feeding on a carcass. Although it’s not unusual, it adds to the excitement, and is probably top of many lists of what to see. Early one morning, we left camp on a mission to find the large resident pride that hunts along the river frontage east of Chiawa. Little did we know what was to follow.
Our decision to rise early and head east was rewarded with some very fresh lion tracks in a dry river bed.
We followed the spoor, and after a brief tracking session, located a pride of 14 lions feeding on the massive carcass of an elephant bull. The elephant had obviously been dead for a few days, but the lions weren’t deterred by the stench of decay, and took turns feeding on it.
A carcass this big would last this pride several days, despite the condition of the meat that would rapidly deteriorate in the intense heat of the valley at this time of the year.