They will however prey on just about anything thats bigger than 1kg. They can be highly aggressive feeders if food is scarce and often the smallest are the most marginalised. Lions are occasionally known to consume plant matter and this is directly related to digestive requirements and gut health. Lions get a fair amount of moisture from the blood they consume but also need to drink and have a healthy consumption of water. Lion prey species in the Kruger National Park vary based on region, soils and flora.
Historically Impala are considered to be the dominant prey species across all the major predators due to their availability. As pointed out later in this body of information alot has to do with region.
Interesting Lions will on the odd occasion enjoy consume plant based matter as an aid to improving digestion. Plant based matter appears to serve as an effective laxative and helps them to remove worms and hairballs. Lion pride dynamics are an important factor in when it comes to hunting. Both sexes participate but its the female Lionesses that take on the majority role to feed the pride. Females use teamwork, strategy and experience to guide hunt. The most experienced female usually leads the hunting party and will manipulate each situation based in her experience to provide them with the best opportunity to capture their prey.
Working together in a group of 2 to 10 they deploy the following basic hunting methods :. Lions kill their prey by either biting behind the neck, which is typical in smaller prey and with larger prey they will bit the throat and clamp down to strangle their prey.
In larger prey species you will find that more than one lion will participate in bringing the animal down and as soon as they have they animal down another member will grab the muzzle as well to restrict further breathing and speed up the process of strangulation.
You may also find that additional members will add their weight to top of the animal ensuring it stays down and struggles to take further breaths of air. Cats have long canine teeth which they use to bite down deep into the spinal area as well as neck area. This can severe nerves and also provide the necessary leverage needed to bring down large prey species. As a result of the changing savanna in the Kruger National Park, Lions will hunt differently based on the regions they occupy.
The regions in Kruger vary and may differ from open grasslands to thickets and mixed woodland savanna. Some of the regions are flat whilst others offer very arid and rocky terrain. These changing conditions have directly effected the resident Lion populations and so they have learnt to adapt their hunting styles and prey species accordingly. As a result of the devastating drought period the Park installed nearly water points that made use of windmills to pump water into shallow troughs.
These sites have witnessed countless Lion hunts over the years with the highest level of activity between July and September every year. This period represents the end of the dry seasons and places tremendous dependance on the available water.
As recently as we have witness 4 males Lions we refer to as the Delaport coalition , occupy the Delaport artificial water point just south of Skukuza Camp for nearly 5 months as a result of late rains. The limited natural water in the area tuned the artificial point into a life saving mecca which the coalition used to their advantage. Frequency of hunts will depend a lot on the size of the pride, of course a larger pride will have many mouths to feed so they will be required to hunt regularly, typically every 2 to 3 days.
Lionesses usually lead the pride hunts every 2nd day and loan adult males will hunt every 3rd day. Digestion also plays a role in hunger as certain items of the prey species will take longer to digest. Lions will eat all parts of the animal except thick bone, hooves and horns as well as stomach contents ie. The hide of the prey species takes the longest to digest and has been found in the exiting stomach material of a adult Lion a week after having kind the species in question.
Lions prefer not to hunt over a Full Moon cycle as they prefer the darker nights which offer better ambush opportunity. The Lion has a particularly advanced form of night vision in that its enlarged tapetum lucadim w hich is layer of tissue in the eye lying immediately behind the retina, performing the function of a retroreflector. This offers improved vision at night for hunting.
During the winter months Lions will often hunt during the cooler daylight hours but again hunger will determine their activity and whilst they are noted to be sedentary for 20 hours of they day, they will hunt if hungry or an easy opportunity presents itself.
Lions will also often take carrion and feed on rotting carcasses or steel a carcass from another predator. In we witnessed a female Lioness that climbed high up into a tree to retrieve a 2 day old Impala carcass that a large male Leopard had stashed. Read more about this sighting later.
Lions have the ability to survive in a variety of habitat but in the Kruger National Park this is defined as Savanna. Nkuhlu Picnic Site is the only stop-off along this road and the terraced banks offer good views over the river and its resident hippo and croc populations. The N'watimhiri Causeway is a good detour off the main road. Larger herds of grazers become more evident closer to Lower Sabie as the bush becomes more open. Look out for cheetah and rhino in the thorn thickets closer to Lower Sabie Camp.
Birders should stop off at Sunset Dam, which is one of the main water-bird sighting spots in the south-east. This is one of the most scenic drives in Kruger as it incorporates the Lebombo, giving wonderful views over the eastern grasslands. The road traverses a variety of habitats linked by stretches of grassland where one may see cheetah, lion, hyaena and the large herds of grazers they hunt.
The distinctive outline of Muntshe Hill stands out starkly above the lowveld. Mlondozi Dam lookout point offers good birding and views over the Lebombo and the eastern plains. Some 25km north of Lower Sabie, the H10 hits the Lebombo and rises up above the grasslands. Nkumbe Hill m is one of the best view sites in Kruger. The road then descends quite rapidly into the mixed woodlands of the N'waswitsontso River basin where there are often elephant to be seen.
The Malelane-Skukuza road rolls gently through the mixed woodlands of south-central Kruger, rising and dropping through a series of low ridges and shallow valleys that form the catchment area of the Crocodile and Sabie river systems. The Malelane area is good for white rhino and many of the other grazers. Herd size is smaller here than in the eastern grasslands. There are almost always animals in the more stunted veld south of Afsaal as the grazing here is particularly nutritious and hyaenas are regularly seen.
Meals and refreshments are available at Afsaal. Look out for lions between Afsaal and Skukuza. A good view site is Mathekenyane Granokop. The road then descends gently into the Sabie River valley thorn thickets around Skukuza. Read more on Game Drives from Malelane to Skukuza. The Voortrekker Road from Pretoriuskop to Afsaal descends from the foothills of the lower escarpment. In the 19th century, transport riders used this route which was romanticised in the book Jock of the Bushveld.
Near Ship Mountain there is a turn-off to where Jock is believed to have been born. The dust road follows a line of sweetveld grazing through the sourveld of south-western Kruger so there is a better than average chance of good sightings of rarer game such as eland, white rhino and sable antelope.
There is a take-away restaurant and shop at Afsaal which has a picnic spot under a giant jackal-berry tree. Allow two hours for this route, as it should be taken very slowly. More often than not, lion coalitions are formed when young male lions from the same pride — siblings and cousins — move away from their natal prides together. But this is not always possible. During his nomadic wanderings, he encountered another young male, and the two found solace and support in each other.
This is just a snapshot of some of the intricacies of lion coalitions and prides in the Greater Kruger. This comprehensive, if somewhat piecemeal, record of their lives may not be good research material, but it certainly is a massive repository of information about the meta-dynamics of lions within the Greater Kruger. See details below. We're the Africa Geographic editorial team — a diverse set of writers, editors, designers and social media natives, all united by our passion for this addictive continent.
Opinion Editorial. Natural history , Opinion Editorial. Natural history. Mapogo Male Lions No article on famous lions would be complete without mentioning one of the most famous lion coalitions of all time certainly in South Africa. The Ximhungwe Pride The story of the Ximhungwe pride is a perfect example of how the fate of a lion pride can be inexorably linked to the changes in male lion dynamics.
The Orpen Males Junior and his coalition mate are perfect examples of how male lions are not necessarily particularly fussy when it comes to choosing coalition mates. Find out more here. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to enjoy more stories like this. Subscribe here.
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