The Congo Lion

[Tshokwane]

Credits to Life Through A Lens Photography.

T R E E • B O U N D 

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There are several places in Africa where you might be lucky enough to see tree-climbing lions, most of them in East Africa: Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda has some of the best parks for this, primarily Ishasha (part of Queen Elizabeth NP, where they often climb fig trees) and Kidepo Valley, on the border to South Sudan. That’s where I found these two, chilling in a sausage trees. It’s not entirely understood why some lions climb trees and others don’t. 

It’s clearly a learned behaviour, which might actually suggest that there’s less of an underlying reason that we might be tempted to read into it. In other words, it could simply be that its comfortable and relaxing, and once a population of lions has discovered that it isn’t that difficult to make your way up an old fig tree... well, why not? But insofar as there IS a more direct reason, it’s been speculated that it’s either a way to get away from the heat, annoying insects, or both. Either way - it looks pretty comfortable to me.

*This image is copyright of its original author

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