Usually the first few weeks of a lion’s life are spent in a very secluded place, safely away from other predators. We were extremely fortunate to be able to access and view these tiny lion cubs that were about only a week old.
We had been following male lion tracks the previous evening with no luck, the tracks doubling back on themselves, which showed us that he was searching for other lions. These he found and the following morning he was spotted laying on the high banks of a dry riverbed. We joined the sightings and were rewarded with a close encounter of him walking within a few feet of our vehicle, down into the riverbed and onto a small “island” of vegetation in the middle of the riverbed.
Delighted to hear that the lionesses were in the riverbed and that they had two tiny cubs with them, we approached slowly. We were treated to a sight of one of the week old cubs, peering out at us through recently opened eyes from the tangle of vegetation, where its mother lay and suckled the cubs.
This phase of any big cat’s life usually goes unseen and is a fantastic example of how these close encounters have been made possible in areas where the animals are treated with respect and given the necessary space to feel comfortable with us approaching an extremely secretive part of their life.
Typically the females stash their cubs far from prying eyes and other predators. These cubs will grow up accustomed to vehicles approaching them and they feel no threat, which leads to years of incredible sightings and a window into the life of animals not often seen in other areas of Africa.