Lions, Leopards and Cheetahs, Oh My!

We saw lions every day on safari and I never got sick of them.  We saw four of the big five within the first two days our safari.  We had to wait patiently to see the infamous black rhino in Ngorongoro Crater where just 28 rhinos remain. 

The rhino is a solitary animal, and is also very shy.  We were warned that it was likely we wouldn’t see one, but fortunate for us we saw our one and only rhino just an hour into our game drive in Ngorongoro Crater.

Not ten minutes into the Serengeti, we saw a cub lion stuck in a tree.  Our guide explained that his mother put him in the tree while she left to hunt.  However, based on the distressed nature of the cub and heat of midday, our guide said that he likely may not make it if he mother doesn’t return soon.  Even in situations like this, the park management will most likely not interfere. 

The park however is tracking the number of female lions with cubs in the Serengeti in order to better keep count of the population size. Female lions with black collars like this one above are females with cubs. 

Later, in the Serengeti we saw some rare sights, including a lion kill and a family of cheetahs that included a male!  The kill came out of nowhere.  We were driving along when one of our truck mates caught sight of a lion stalking in the grass.  By the time we had stopped the truck the lion had pounced on taken out a zebra! We also saw this lounging leopard.

Leopards are selfish. They hunt for themselves, eat a little and then hide their killings high in the trees where other cannot follow.  Between the kill, the cub in the tree, and the leopards, the Serengeti quickly reminds you that the circle of life is ever present.