A Season with Lions with Dave Salmoni : Animal Planet

My Morning Routine

Here's my latest video log. Enjoy!

Chilling with Brutus

It's only fair that I write about a good walk that I had today, because I seem to write about all the bad ones. Brutus was found on an eland kill this morning. It's the second eland that I have seen him eating in as many weeks. Eland is the biggest ungulate in Africa; they can weigh over a ton. I think ole Brutus likes to kill big then just hang around with his girls and little cubbies. He doesn't get much attention if he isn't protecting the family while they eat.

Anyway, I had a great walk with him while he was by himself at this kill. I showed up and hung out with him sitting on my quad. (That's what they call 4-wheelers over here.) After a while I stepped off the quad and just walked far enough away from it for him to see that I was on foot. I was close to him and he really didn't care. He acknowledged that he saw me and then just chilled out. It was awesome.

Tough Love

You know the saying, "tough love"? I think it sucks. I have been using the saying to describe what I am attempting to do with the lions. There are certain things that I want the lions here to learn that I know will be better for them. If I can teach them, then I know that the cats will be better off for me having been here. Otherwise, I am just having some fun with lions at their expense, which isn't fair.

The main thing I want them to learn is to be less aggressive towards vehicles and to tolerate them better. Vehicles bring the paying tourists to see the lions and it's how Erindi pays to give the lions their space on the planet. The other lesson is for them to be less aggressive toward people on foot. There will always be a chance that these lions will come across someone on foot and they need to be a little safer. If they hurt one person, or even convince someone that they may hurt someone, then they will no longer be able to have this last chance that they are getting here.

Watchful Eyes in Camp

There was a lion in camp this morning. That's all, you need to know nothing more.

OK, I'm lying. You know me, I want to share all my good times with everyone. There is a lion named Otjiwa (pronounced "o-gee-wa"). I used to call her "Obi-Wan" because I couldn't pronounce it well. It means something in one of the local languages, something like "beautiful." She hangs out with another cat, "Yoda." I gave her the name from her huge ears and the fact that I called Otjiwa "Obi-Wan." Anyway, they both must have been using their Jedi mind tricks this morning because they were a few feet away from me without me knowing.

It's funny, everything that we could see showed that she must have been in this one bush beside my tent — just like Brutus's vantage point but the opposite side of camp and much closer. It was perfect for them to watch everything that I was doing in camp. Every morning as I come out of my tent, about an hour before sunrise, I say "Good morning Erindi!" Partly because I'm crazy and talk to no one a lot, but partly to make sure I don't surprise anything dangerous in camp. Like a lion! Then I take a few steps towards this bush that the lion was in without me knowing and I take my morning bathroom break. If it wasn't dark I would have been looking her right in the eye.

Brutus Tried to Eat Me!

What can I tell you today? There have been a few good times since I last wrote to you. I just don't know where to start. Should I tell you about Brutus trying to eat me? Should I tell you about me stealing meat from Brutus? (They were separate incidents by the way.) Or should I tell you about the color of my new bedding? OK, the bedding. It's brownish orangey?

I did steal meat from the cats the other day. But don't worry there were a few hundred pounds that I left them. It was something I had always wanted to do. So the other day I arrived on to an eland kill that Otis and Whinny were at with Shizzle, Manizzle and Rough and Tumble. Rough and Tumble are Cleopatra's cubs by the way. Anyway, they were all hanging out in the shade about 30 yards from the kill when I decided to test the cats to see how protective of the meat they were. When I hopped on foot and started moving towards the kill I noticed Brutus staring at me. He was cool, because it seemed with his large belly he was only interested in protecting Whinny and the cubs. I snuck quietly towards the kill and cut a piece off for myself. Once I got back to my ATV (they call them "quads" out here, but I think they are also called "four-wheelers") I noticed that the lions really didn't care about me being near the kill. So I thought of poor ol' Smiles, Blur and Scary. I went back and got them some too. It was great! I cooked it up and shared some with the crocodile crew. Once again the mean crocodiles didn't appreciate the effort. They are continuing to ignore my attempts to make friends!

Find Me on Google Earth

I'm not sure how many of you know how to use Google Earth, but for those of you who do and want to see some of the places that I go, here are some points to put in:

My camp (left): 21 33.163 S, 16 19.696 E

The first den site where I saw Cleopatra and Whinny keeping the cubs: 21 31.900 S, 16 18.487 E

Whinny and Cleo hanging with Shizzle, Manizzle and the two younger cubs: 21 33.697 S, 16 19.315 E

Otis and Brutus killing a gemsbok and listening to my guitar behind camp: 21 33.318 S, 16 19.784 E

Otis and Brutus hanging with me on the koppie: 21 31.035 S, 16 17.802 E

Cleo and Whinny hanging with us and all the cubs: 21 34.434 S, 16 18.843 E

Anyway, not sure if you guys are going to like this so I won't put up too many coordinates. Hope you like seeing some of the places that I am hanging out with these guys.

The Purest Thing I Have Ever Experienced

Today was the worst day yet... if you weren't hanging with lions at Erindi! Whooo!!!

Not to be so dramatic, but we have been fairly frustrated by these lions lately and having a good day is very rewarding. Where to begin? Oh yeah, so I started the day pretty normal. I was following Otis into a koppie (which is a rocky outcrop). The jerk has been trying to hide from the vehicles for the last few days. I think there was a lion conference to discuss this tactic because the girls started doing the same thing at the same time independently of each other. I was ready to run up the koppie and grab him and his brother Brutus by the tail and drag them down to visit me. Eventually they moved themselves into a nice position where they could see me and I could see them, so I walked up to a cool place and started hanging out with them.

Noisy Neighbors!

My camping experience is getting more and more perilous. Well, I'm sure that isn't the case, it just feels that way. Let me brief you on the last few days. About three nights ago I heard the most terrible noise just behind my tent. By the time it was all said and done I figured it was either a leopard killing something or two leopards fighting! Either way it was just behind my tent and loud enough to interrupt my sleep.

Yesterday while collecting firewood I bumped into Brutus on the other side of my dam. He was pleasant enough when we surprised each other. Later I realized that it was he and Otis (left) sitting on a gemsbok kill. I was monitoring their position with my radio telemetry (tracking device). I was forced to face the fact that they would be watching me all night. I cooked under their watchful eyes, played them a little concert on my guitar and went to bed. They liked the music enough to stay and listen. They then decided to roar every hour from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. on the hour. I didn't sleep that much.

A Lesson in Manners

Do you remember that story Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? I don't remember all the details, but I am thinking about the part where all the kids are on a tour of the factory but aren’t supposed to sample the candy. That's me right now! Everyone on the crew went home to their families for a week off. The crew gets a break and the lions get a break. I stayed. However, my only rule is that I have to let the lions have their break. I'm not allowed to go and see them. How hard is that? I hate it.

All this week I have been spending walking around Erindi, exploring and thinking about the lions. I have had tons of time to figure out my plan, and am going to let you in on it. I have spent most of my time up till now trying to figure how these cats react to different situations and basically profiling each cat’s personality. I have a good sense of which situations are good for walking with the cats and which are dangerous. The cubs are the most dangerous factor in my decision-making, as this family is VERY protective of the little ones. Food is also a bit of a danger factor, but not too bad, and a mating pair is something I haven't been able to walk with yet. For now, I will assume it's dangerous.

A Sense of Family

I was just thinking how awesome a display of true family the cats have been showing me lately, so much so that I have been a little homesick for my family. When I say my family I include my friends as well; it's the same. I've known so many of them for so long that they are family. So if you haven't fallen in love with this pride yet, wait till you hear this.

The other day the insane Cleopatra was found southwest of my camp, by a few miles. I went to see her and found that she was hanging with Whinny and Whinny's cubs, Shizzle and Manizzle (left). Cleo's cubs were nowhere to be found. The funny thing was that when we arrived, we expected Cleo to greet us with her usual charge and growl, but she did nothing. For the first time ever, she just sat there content to watch us. She was cool. Whinny, on the other hand, was a little grumpy and trying to protect her cubs.

We followed the girls for a while and eventually Cleo called her cubs in. The minute they showed up, BANG! Cleopatra came out of the long grass like a shotgun, growling and charging and all that other stuff we are used to. It was her saying, "Hey, my babies are here now. So watch out!" She is the most protective mom I have ever seen.