Posted on 01/07/2002 7:58:22 AM PST by Sabertooth
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News Monday, January 7, 2002
By MUGUMO MUNENE A lioness has struck up friendship with an Oryx calf, escorting and protecting it around a Kenyan wildlife reserve, in a spectacle which has puzzled wildlife experts. The full grown lioness has been roaming Samburu game reserve in the company of a Beisa Oryx calf, which it would ordinarily have killed for a meal. Tourists and game workers have watched in disbelief as the lioness and the frail brown baby oryx walk side by side and lie down to rest with all the intimacy of a mother and calf at the foot of Koitogor hills, near the Serena Samburu. The lioness has been protecting the calf from other predators and at times walks watchfully behind it as it would with its own cubs. Game workers have witnessed the lioness frighten off a leopard which had been stalking the calf. A Nation team which followed the pair for two days saw the lioness lie down to rest in the hot afternoon sun and the oryx curl up casually beside it. At one point, the lioness went hunting and returned shortly afterwards to keep watch on the grazing calf. "It's incredible. This is either an extraordinary case of maternal instinct or simply the eighth wonder of the world," remarked Serena Samburu's Herman Mwasaghua, one of the first to spot the unusual pair. No two animals could be more different in behaviour and feeding habits. Lions are voracious carnivores and commonly prey on browsers like antelopes, water bucks and zebras. The oryx is a gentle herbivore which survives on grass and leaves and spends much of its time dodging predators such as Big Cats, mainly by its speed. The lioness sleeps for upto 16 hours a day and is active for only eight while the oryx spends 65 per cent of its time browsing. Lions rely largely on their sight while oryx survives by its sharp sense of smell. Yet the Samburu pair have stuck together for close to 15 days, wandering in the wild in easy friendship. The lioness is said to have taken over the calf when it frightened off its mother at birth. The two animals appeared to be badly starved in the early days of their friendship but soon settled to their separate feeding routines. Serena nature expert Vincent Kapeen thinks the lioness spared the calf when its mother fled "because all animals have a special instinct to care for the young." It took a liking to to the calf, possibly because a baby oryx has the same brown colour as a lion cub at the time of birth and just before maturity. "The lioness became fond of the calf, maybe because it had lost the company of its pride and was feeling lonely. What is baffling is why the relationship has lasted so long," said Mr Kapeen. "We don't know what will happen when the oryx grows horns, if they will still stay together." Samburu County Council rangers have ruled out separating the two, preferring to let nature take its course. Yesterday, a grown oryx watched apprehensively from a distance as the lioness and the baby oryx walked together. The spectacle has attracted a growing stream of nature lovers, tourists and Samburu villagers. The oryx is a big antelope with beautiful black and white marks on its head. There are two other varieties, the fringed eared oryx and the Gemsbok. Both sexes have long, almost straight horns, the females being more slender. |
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DoughtyOne and snuffington, thanks for reposting the pics, I couldn't see them on the 1-50 posts page.
The lioness fell asleep by a watering hole and - yes, another lion came along and nature took its' course. Soooo sorry to break the news. . .
:o(
2 legged jackals slaughter 2 legged lambs!
very graphic! and don't forget, oakland, calif. named a street after mandela!!
Life's a beach!
"Ten, fifteen minutes tops..."
Well, it was a good story for a day or two anyway.
Did you see this story? Some stories actually leave me speechless, a minor miracle. (^:
Toddler says he saw angels, Canada:
Gabriels mother, Tobi Gabriel, was killed when her car flew off a cliff and landed on the rocky shore off Lower Cove Road near Joggins, Cumberland Co., between 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Christmas Eve. But the three-year-old survived the crash, and a cold night alone on the beach.
He had frostbitten toes and a bump on his head, but was otherwise unharmed when a neighbour found him at 9 a.m. Christmas day.
Gage said the two angels appeared on the water where his mothers lifeless body floated near her overturned car.
Tuesday, January 8, 2002
Lioness and a baby oryx: Mystery remains
By MUGUMO MUNENE
The spectacular friendship between a lioness and a baby oryx that has had all Kenya talking remains a puzzle for game workers and wildlife experts.
In a radical departure from its instincts, the lioness protected the little calf, which it would ordinarily have killed for a meal, escorting it around the Samburu wildlife reserve. Truck loads of tourists kept following the pair as they strolled around the foot of Koitogor Hills, near the Serena Samburu lodge.
Alongside game workers the tourists watched daily in disbelief as the lioness and the frail brown calf wandered the range side by side and lay down to rest together, with all the intimacy of a mother and her cub.
Had the lioness adopted the oryx as her own? What powerful drive overrode all her instincts to kill?
No scientific explanation has been offered yet for the strange friendship which lasted for an amazing 15 days before the law of the jungle reigned supreme and sadly an older lion from another pride killed the calf.
Death came suddenly when the odd couple strayed into the territory of another lion, which spotted easy prey.
The predator pounced as the lioness turned her back to drink from the Uaso Nyiro river, late on Sunday evening.
It was an unusual lapse of care on the lioness's part. For the time they were together, she had successfully warded off all dangers to the frail little calf, including threats from a pride of cheetahs, by walking watchfully behind it as it would with its own cubs.
A Nation team which had earlier followed the pair for two days saw the lioness lie down to rest in the hot afternoon sun and the oryx curl up casually beside her. At one point, the lioness went hunting but quickly returned to keep watch on the grazing calf.
The lioness is said to have taken over the calf after frightening off its mother at birth. The two animals appeared to be starving in the early days of their friendship but soon settled to their separate feeding routines. Tourists interviewed by the Nation after witnessing the episode were lost for words while others saw it to another wonder of the world. The two animals have sharply contrasting habits.
Lions are voracious carnivores and commonly prey on browsers like antelopes, water bucks and zebras. The oryx is a gentle herbivore which survives on grass and leaves and spends much of its time dodging predators such as big cats, mainly by its speed, although the adults are also adept at defending themselves with their long sword-like horns.
The lioness sleeps for up to 16 hours a day and is active for only eight, while the oryx spends 65 per cent of its time browsing. Lions rely largely on their sight while oryx survive by their sharp sense of smell, which deepened the mystery of how the two had been communicating in the wild. Samburu rangers had ruled out separating them, preferring to let nature take its course, but like everyone else, they crossed their fingers in the hope that the mysterious relationship would last.
The spectacle had attracted a growing stream of nature lovers, tourists and Samburu villagers.
Wildlife experts say that lions - moving in twos or threes - will normally mark out a territory by fighting off the weaker males. They will then subdue the females within the territory by killing all the cubs from previous mates and siring their own as the natural way of ensuring their own perpetuation.
Samburu Serena nature expert Vincent Kapeen said there was a high possibility that the killer lion, which the Nation team had spotted about two kilometres from the couple on Sunday morning, could have killed the calf while mistaking it for a rival's cub, but then realised that it was actually a meal.
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