Remarkable game sightings are what the Luangwa Valley is known for, however; every now and then one gets the chance to witness something a little out of the ordinary. A couple of weeks ago a male lion from the Luwi pride, was spotted with a hyena in its mouth. Much has been documented on the eternal feud between lions and hyena but rarely do you see an example like this one. This lion held the hyena in a “death grip” around its throat and neck for about 10 minutes or more before finally dropping it. The hyena was not yet dead, it appeared to recover several minutes later but only enough to drag its seemingly paralysed back legs off into the bushes. Nature can appear very cruel! Regardless of the story above, reaffirming the lion as the “king of the beasts”, lions are as susceptible as any other species to the indiscriminate targeting of the poacher’s snare. Wire snares, designed typically to capture small buck, are still being set by poachers both inside and outside the National Park. Regrettably guides from both Kakuli and Mchenja Camps spotted lions carrying snares last week. Luckily their diligence in reporting and assisting with the de-snaring operation meant that in both cases the lions were saved and will recover very quickly. The camps usually contact the South Luangwa Conservation Society but in this instance they were unable to respond immediately so passed the call for help over to the African Wild Dog Conservation Trust lead by Matt Becker, who came to the rescue.
These sightings have been viewed at: Luangwa Valley
