NOTCH’S
LAST CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR BASH WITH HIS SONS
While we celebrate our Christmas by travelling to some
places of interests or by partying in a special way, wild animals would never
do that, they have no calendar to follow, but here on the Christmas eve >25thof
December 2012, our most photographed coalition of male lions in Maasai Mara
Game Reserve had a Hippopotamus kill, one of the biggest mammal to be killed by
lions.
Most of the safari camps and lodges were full of both local
and international tourists who they came to celebrate the
25th and the 1st as special days of our calendar. And to top up the
experience on the wildlife was watching the Notch and his four sons enjoying
their kill, and for some days it was Notches’ starter, main course and even
dessert.
I drove with my clients to watch the king on one of the afternoon
and morning hours and there was nothing so special than watching him tearing
off the fleshy hippo, and then being joined by his sons. He was still looking
strong and healthy, thanks to the invaluable help from his 4 sons.
To me this was the last Christmas/New year bash he was
having as a strongest coalition on the busy plains of our beloved Maasai Mara,
he did not live to see the end of the year 2013 but he went missing in the
middle of August 2013.At this time of the year the great migration of
wildebeest and zebras were scattered in the Mara and there was enough food for
them, and again he did not live to see the migration heading back to Tanzania. He
might have been got and killed by some other coalitions of lions on his own. It
was at this time of the year that they were splitting a lot…..
Killing of a fully grown hippo by lions is a skilled
acquired through experience. Hippos are big animals with a weight of almost
2600 to 3000kilos, and also well armed with their strong, big and sharp teeth
called tusks .If a lion is got by a hippo’s bite then that would be the end of
its life. This Notch coalition has made the highest number of hippo kills in
the Mara than any other pride. I have never seen them hunting down hippos, and
if there is somebody who has seen this then may be less than 2!
Hippos have very sensitive heat to sun heat and they only
come out at night to graze. Lions too are active at night, and when this
coalition of 5 lions find a hippo then they would hunt it down with a lot of caution,
starting from the rear side tearing of the legs tendon, and once the hippo has
fallen down they would kill by tearing off flesh on the sides of the body and
eventually the hippo will die out of pain, strangulating a fully grown hippo is
impossible and that is why it is done only with lions that have acquired such
skills.
This year January, 2014, his sons have killed highest number
in a month!
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| A fully grown Hippo-App.2.8 tonnes. |
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| King Notch getting his piece |
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| A break is always recommended when having a big meal. |
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| Inspecting his land from a distance to ensure there is no intrusion |
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| How about the untouched back? |
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| One of his sons coming to join him. |
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| Happy dad and his son |
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| He's feeling the heat and he's off to Croton bushes |
