The Lions of Livingstone

We received this update recently from Safpar who operate the Lion Encounter here in Livingstone. Lots of Guests with accommodation provided by Chanters Lodge who come to Livingstone mainly to see the mighty Victoria Falls have also enjoyed this experience during their visit, and there’s a picture of 3 ladies from Perth, Western Australia, doing exactly that! Here’s the piece:

“May has been our busiest month so far with 465 clients visiting Lion Encounter. During the end of May a South African fencing team arrived in Livingstone to start pegging the fences for our first Zambian Release site – Stage 2. This is extremely exciting for all of us involved, the release site is in preparation for the release of the lions our clients are walking!! The research team have been very busy this month with the elephant research – as elephants start flocking to the thorntree area – proving to be a very interesting addition to the lion walks!!

Walking Sets
Temi and Tswana – Temi and Tswana’s confidence is building all the time. The two have regularly been seen stalking the odd impala or – as their last stalking attempt shows no fear – a giraffe!! These two are far too small to get anywhere near, but its all good practice. Temi and Tswana approach 8 months on the 6th of July, little do they know that their feeding will change from every 2 days to every 3. Temi and Tswana’s age now means that no person will be allowed in the enclosure with the cubs.

Kela, Kwandi and Loma
The largest of our walking lions, Kela and Kwandi – now 13 months, and Loma – now 1 year old, continue to provide us with much entertainment on their walks. During May all three showed great hunting potential by jumping on the back of a Zebra – who promptly showed them where to go with a swift kick! As the river is now getting lower the cubs can go back to doing what they love – hanging out in the water!! Kela and Kwandi love water (a rare but not unheard of trait in lions), and, as the river rose over the rainy season the water has been too high and strong for a quick dip, so they are now looking forward to cooling off in the Zambezi! Obviously, our team of scouts and lion handlers are on careful watch for those crocs!!

Rundi and Rusha
Rundi and Rusha approach 10 months at the start of June, and are enjoying the Mosi Ou Tunya National Park. Rusha, a very independent lion still enjoys her own company, whilst Rundi is quite happy to lay back and receive a belly scratch from us mere humans!

Leya, Zulu and Toka
Our only 2 males, Toka, who celebrated his 1st birthday mid May, and Zulu just 10 months provide a different dynamic to this group. Toka, a firm favourite is as dopey and loveable as ever, enjoying human company, but is quick to end a cuddle if the chance of chasing those pesky impala’s arises! Zulu and Leya are much quieter, with shy personalities – Leya however is growing more confident every day and is starting to realise the benefit of the human touch – ear scratches!! Zulu’s innocent face and dark brown eyes captures hearts daily, and is often seen enjoying his favourite pastime – sucking the other cub’s ears!!
Great stuff – if you like that sort of thing!

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