Elephant Herd Passes a Lion Pride
Wildlife interactions can be fascinating to watch. Sometimes, what does not happen is as interesting as what does. We were with a lioness and her cubs, when she stood up quite abruptly, and led her cubs into a ravine. Meanwhile the rest of her pride kept sitting where they were. After a few minutes we realised what had caused the lion mum to withdraw to safety; a large herd of elephants was approaching. Elephants of course will do anything to keep lions at bay and can be especially aggressive towards lions if they have small calves to protect. This one had a calf only about two months old, so we fully expected to see the elephants turn on the lions. Amazingly, nothing of that sort happened. Both sides ignored the other, as the elephants passed within 20m of the lions. In retrospect of course, it all made complete sense. The lions did not wish to react, and perhaps draw attention to the very small cubs hiding in the ravine and the elephants were signalling peaceful passage because of the calf they had. What we witnessed was in fact a temporary armistice between the two groups.
An East African safari should be about more than just seeing the wildlife. You should be able to experience it. Watching wildlife interactions is a huge part of a Kenyan conservancy safari that is quite unlike a standard safari.
