AmyH

To give you an idea of how close we were here, my daughter shot these video bursts using a very low-tech Kodak Easy Share digital camera with only a 4x zoom. In fact, many of the very nice photos (rooms, tents, rainbows, any warthog pictures) that are in our other album were taken with this very modest digital camera.

We watched the lioness take down this wildie by herself after the young males blew an earlier attempt at a kill and then busied themselves chasing a mongoose under our car. We were right there as she strangled the wildie but too in awe to actually document the event (one, of many, many differences between a tourist and a professional dispassionate photographer). We recovered sufficiently to capture the initial eating of the wildie. Alas, we could not linger too long as it was well past 6:30pm when this occured and we needed to head back to camp.

http://www.videoegg.com/video/isOYT
http://www.videoegg.com/video/iswQp
http://www.videoegg.com/video/iswQT

http://www.videoegg.com/video/iswWp
http://www.videoegg.com/video/iswWr

waynehazle

UGH! Is what I think is happening really happening in that first video?

matnikstym

Sure looks like it Wayne! OUCH!

betharwein

I've tried and tried to open up on egg whatever and can't seem to get it. Snap Fish and Kodak are easy to open. I need to know the secret. Betty

waynehazle

Note to any lions who may attack me on future safaris: Please just kill me first with just a neck bite.... then do whatever you want.

AmyH

I wish the sound of the zoom was not so loud, than you could hear the three men in the vehicle audibly groaning as the lion "grabs hold" -- I did try and warn you!

matnikstym

HAHAHA Wayne! Great videos Amy! Thanks for posting them! (I'm still cringing!)

cindysafari

I'll BET they moaned...yikes!
Cindy

jasher

Hello,

Apparently the 'ball-bite' is a popular one with lions who want to get a prey animal opened up -- Autumn told me that she saw something similar at a buffalo kill at Duba.

Give me a nice quick broken neck any day...

Cheers,
Julian

PredatorBiologist

Great video, your daughter has a future with Animal Planet! Also, the warning is very appropriate.

Where I live, on our buffalo (American Bison) that's called Rocky Mountain Oysters and they are considered a great delicacy -- one that I personally choose not to partake of. Perhaps lions believe its a delicacy too although I think Julian may be right that it just makes a great zipper.

I think its appropriate here to point out that one legendary little honey badger killed a bull buffalo with this method alone -- yikes!

waynehazle

When I was at the giraffe sanctuary in Nairobi, they showed a video of a bunch of lions trying to take down a full grown giraffe

the giraffe was kicking their behinds! With one kick he could send a full size male lion FLYING. Then one of them sunk their teeth into his testicles.

Even though the giraffe appeared to fight off the lions and get away. he was done for. He was in so much pain he couldn't bend over to get water. the lions just sat and waited for a while.

cybor

ewww, that's so awful Amy,poor beeste - it even hurt me to watch. Funny how only the men folk here have responded so far despite your not for male eyes warning - ha Just goes to show you!
Sherry

mkhonzo

Lions (like other predators) will puncture the flesh around the belly to remove the inerds before proceeding with eating the balance of the body.

Yes this can happen before the prey is completely killed and is frequently noted when there is a large pride at work. Naturally a smaller pride is unable to process the meal while the prey is still "on the hoof".

So what you see here is not a bizarre form of, well you know.!

AmyH

This may not ease anyone's discomfort but let me assure you that the wildie was, indeed, dead prior to the first video when the lioness was joined by the rest of the pride. We actually watched her bring the wildie down from a slight distance and drove over in time to watch her stranglehold and the expiration of the wildebeest. Only then, did the rest of the pride slowly make their way to the kill to join her.
The actual kill itself is very bloodless.

martync

Amy--or anyone else: What is that sound on the tape that sounds something like a racheting device? Not the sound of the zoom, but the other sound. I had the exact same sound on some video I took in EA in June and can't figure out what it is. It didn't happen everytime, but most of the time.

BTW--excellent videos, even if they kind of make me bend over and protect my...you know what.

Marty

AmyH

Marty-
I am positive it is the sound of the zoom. It does not sound that loud when you are actually taking the videos but somehow it is that loud on play back.

JanGoss

Amy:

Was this a lioness with her near grown cubs? It seems like they didn't quite know how to open the belly (other than the circumciser). One was even pawing the belly almost playfully like it didn't know what to do.

Jan

africaddict

Nice capture.
In future it's a very good idea to turn off ALL audio beeps/sounds on Camera's and Videos/Vid phones. You can see just how distracting/annoying these sounds are.

AmyH

Jan-
Yes. it might have been the first kill that the cubs were allowed to participate in which may account for the initial gun jumping and mongoose chasing before Mom got down to business.
We found the whole hunt, missed kill more than fascinating. The fact that they re-grouped in such a short period of time and the Mom made the kill was very surprising.