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National Geographic Lions of the African Night
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It is night in the African bush |
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where the familiar becomes mysterious |
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It is the time and place |
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and man does not willingly venture. |
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In this dark realm they reign supreme; |
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they are the kings; |
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They are the Lions |
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A day in the bushveld of |
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and a pride of 30 lions |
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that has dozed and slept through |
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This pride is unusually large two |
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and for small cubs life in such |
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When food is scarce, competition |
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and it's the little cubs |
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The males that sired these cubs |
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have deserted their big family to |
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elsewhere |
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Now, all the adults |
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They rest on, waiting |
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for lions are seldom active |
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and like most prides, |
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They'll hardly stir until |
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As the day winds down, young baboons |
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The sounds of day merge through the |
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A hyena sniffs the night |
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A toktokkie beetle taps out the signal |
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And from somewhere close |
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Each hole, cut to |
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serves the same remarkable purpose |
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made by the slender tree cricket |
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To advertise for a mate, |
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the male cricket has developed |
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where a vibrating membrane his wings |
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The leaf is the cricket's soundboard, |
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and the sound produced is magnified |
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But simply tapping on the ground |
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seems to work well enough for |
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In their first hunt of the night |
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They have panicked and scattered |
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which are still vulnerable |
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The lions have approached their prey |
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and are now spread out at intervals |
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When hunting at night, lions rely |
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They move noiselessly through |
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stopping frequently |
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listening for the slightest sounds |
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Although the lions may not see |
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the deep shadows provide more cover |
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The herd has picked up the scent. |
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Lions pay no heed to wind direction. |
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They're not aware that the wind |
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And, like most hunts, |
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With so many mouths to feed, a pride |
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To survive, each year |
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250 animals the size of a wildebeest. |
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From crevices, burrows, and holes |
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animals that have slept through |
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These night apes will feed until |
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moving with prodigious leaps |
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Hippos, having slept and rested in |
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At night they graze on grasses |
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But sometimes when food is scarce, |
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they will lumber several miles inland |
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By dawn each will have consumed |
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From his burrow entrance a porcupine |
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before he leads his family out to feed |
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The tiny pups, only a few weeks old, |
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will accompany |
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in their search for the bulbs, roots, |
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The lions have trapped a warthog |
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It's a prize they cannot resist, and |
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Fierce and frantic, |
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with its sharp tusks |
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But with such odds against it, |
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But only a lucky few get a meal |
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The others search the ground |
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A hungry lioness returns |
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for a last hopeful search |
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A black roach digs the hole |
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where she'll place the package of eggs |
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The only maternal care she gives |
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as she carefully conceals |
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disguising the site |
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Parental care is more developed |
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The female carries her young |
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While she devours a grasshopper, |
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her offspring life packed securely |
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held in place by her many legs. |
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Other centipedes protect and tend |
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But in addition, |
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She holds them high above the ground |
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Centipedes too have predators, |
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and this tiny snake is a specialist, |
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Holding on grimly, |
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by the many bites it receives |
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The snake's venom takes effect |
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The little snake is able to swallow |
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centipedes almost twice the diameter |
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It always seems to start with the head |
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One of the cubs has an injured leg |
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The pride does not wait for her |
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A civet is more at home on the ground, |
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but a dead tree is a handy refuge |
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Now he can resume his nightly search |
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and the smaller animals he preys on. |
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When the cub catches up |
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she must endure the rough bullying |
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especially on those with any disability |
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There is usually a little comfort |
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Besides, cubs are remarkably resilient |
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and this one will soon recover |
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Unless driven by hunger, |
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At intervals through the night |
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and sometimes even to sleep soundly |
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Supreme masters of relaxed living, |
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for more than four or five hours 24. |
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These are the tiny tracks made |
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It is only at night that these small |
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moving backwards, in search of places |
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The head of the ant-lion larva |
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by large hollow jaws through |
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In a patch of fine, soft sand |
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the ant lion digs in |
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which it will catch its |
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But it could well be any small insect. |
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Turning in ever decreasing circles, |
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the ant lion uses its head |
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and small pebbles out |
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The trap is ready. |
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The ant lion buries itself |
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with only its jaws exposed and waits. |
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The ant struggles free |
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But the ant lion has another strategy |
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It throws up a steady shower |
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the ant from the steep |
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and brings it once again within reach |
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Now, held securely, the ant is dragged |
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Roars in the night can mean danger |
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These come from a group of males that |
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and its territory for some months. |
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But the intruders are shunned |
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for males tend to kill cubs |
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and they always appropriate |
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So the pride departs |
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and won't relax or resume the hunt |
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Dawn finds them safe and asleep, |
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several miles from the troubles |
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Most nights the pride will walk |
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but when foiled in their hunt |
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they may cover twice that distance. |
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The unpredictable wrath of this bull |
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There is no point contesting the matter |
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and the pride moves on to find |
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A male ostrich sits tight on his nest |
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despite the steady approach |
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If he deserts now, the buffalo might |
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But the approach of a herd of lions |
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and the ostrich also |
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These eggs are a novelty for the lions |
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In the excitement of the first rush |
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one or two eggs were smashed |
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But now the lions are puzzled |
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There's more fun for a cub |
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and chase of the female ostrich |
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who had just returned |
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The remaining eggs are lion-proof |
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and the pride wanders away |
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where they will sleep through |
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By late afternoon it is overcast |
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and the younger ones have found |
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But tree climbing is not something |
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Lions have an edge when stalking prey |
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This time they have killed |
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But even the lions are unnerved |
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The rain unearths a rainfrog. |
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Most of the year they are inactive |
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They emerge only |
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The storm has damaged |
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exposing the workers and |
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for the quick tongue of the rainfrog. |
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During the rainy season temporary ponds |
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About 20 different kinds of frogs |
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Not only frogs are attracted |
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This marbled tree snake |
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Most of the frogs will deposit |
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but there are exceptions. |
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These golden leaf-folding frogs |
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are placing a row of eggs along |
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With their hind legs they fold |
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in which the eggs will develop. |
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By far the most numerous predators |
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They wait motionless |
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When the frog has been subdued, |
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the spider carries it out of |
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In a tree over the pond a pair of |
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With their hind legs |
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in which their young will spend |
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The female provides the mucus together |
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while the male on her back adds |
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Soon the foam hardens on the outside |
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From other nests made |
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tiny tadpoles are slipping out |
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where they'll complete |
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It is common for more than one pair |
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but this group is extraordinary. |
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About 40 frogs are contributing |
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which, when completed, |
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The pride has come upon a |
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which the adults have left to |
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The porcupine has been wounded, |
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and there is much fight still left in |
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To succeed they will have to insert |
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and bowl it over to expose its |
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But they're not finding this easy |
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The encounter eventually |
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With more time the cubs may |
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but the adults have moved on |
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A scorpion clears the sand |
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before settling in the entrance |
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Millipedes are often eaten |
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but this millipede has |
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that makes it almost uncatchable |
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When molested, it flips onto its back |
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A charge on a wildebeest herd |
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and the younger lions listen |
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For the small cubs this is the ultimate |
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Only by displaying a fierce |
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can a cub get enough to eat. |
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And it is now, when the abdomen |
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and the choicest portions |
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that the competition is keenest. |
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By the end of such a meal |
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most of the pride will have |
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But they scarcely seem to |
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Eventually the carcass is dismembered |
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and the adults and larger cubs have |
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into the surrounding bushes |
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The younger cubs now have easier |
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which they attack with a will. |
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And even the lame cub has managed |
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Hyenas and jackals that would snatch |
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find this group too formidable. |
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They will keep their distance |
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The lions that have finished eating |
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licking away the blood from each other |
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that were battered during |
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For it is only at kills that harmony |
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There is no hierarchy in a lion pride |
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all are equal, |
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In harmony again and replete |
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the pride moves on to find a |
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By nightfall this large family |
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Impelled once more on their |
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They will resume again their journey |
