|
Lions of Sabi Sands
|
TSALALA PRIDE
A bit about the Mighty BB female AKA Tailess Lioness and how the accident of the cause of her missing tail happened. By Amy Attenborough - Londolozi https://blog.londolozi.com/2017/05/01/th...n-and-now/ BB ''She was born in 1998 and had a difficult life as a youngster. In fact at just the age of four her mother died, leaving her as the only member of her pride. Shortly after this she gave birth to her first litter of two cubs around a rocky outcrop called Ximpalapala Koppie and miraculously raised them to independence.'' The original Tailless lioness who was born in 1998. This image was taken before her encounter with the hyenas that left her tailless.  *This image is copyright of its original author ''Jump forward a few years to 2005 and by this point, the ‘Tailless’ lioness (who still had her tail at the time) was with her now-bigger pride (made up of her original two cubs and a younger litter of four). She had killed a zebra and all seven lions were feeding on the carcass. The commotion and noise caused by the pride feeding drew the attention of a clan of hyenas who came into the area to steal the kill. By the time rangers arrived, a fight had ensued between the lions and hyenas and the older lioness had been very severely mauled. A hyena had managed to bite her tail and remove a large chunk from the base of it. What progressed over the next few days shocked everyone as this lioness actually chewed away her own tail to curb the infection, a desperate last resort for survival. For many weeks she could hardly move and was unable to hunt. As a result she lost two of her cubs to starvation. What she gained though was an enormous amount of respect from those who witnessed her fight for her life. She had proven the extremity of her strength and resilience.'' The Tailless female after the encounter with the hyena. Subsequent to this she actually bit her own tail off.  *This image is copyright of its original author The Tailless female after removing her own tail. At this point the wound had begun to heal and she could move about and hunt again.  *This image is copyright of its original author BB's Daughter coincidentally faced the same fate. ''In 2011, the similarities between the two lionesses I speak of really began to get bizarre. One night the Tsalala Pride caught and killed a zebra beyond the southern boundary of their territory. During the night hyenas stole their carcass and when rangers found the pride the following morning, the adult lioness (Tailless lioness’ very own daughter) had had her tail bitten clean off by what we can only assume was a hyena. Within the space of a few short years, both mother and daughter had met the same fate in some eerily similar circumstances. The Tsalala Pride was in huge danger at this point because of her injury but just when rangers thought the newly injured lioness would die, the original Tailless re-joined her natal pride and helped them to kill a buffalo after ten days of not eating. After she had fed with them she returned to the Breakway Pride. Once again the Tailless lioness had come to the rescue.'' ''This lack of a tail wouldn’t be the last similarity though. The way in which the original Tailless lioness chose to save cubs that weren’t her own by taking them to an area away from new dominant males looking to kill them was to be replicated by her daughter, the current Tailless lioness.'' The more recent Tailless female after losing her tail in the same set of strange circumstances as her mother. Photograph by Adam Bannister  *This image is copyright of its original author June 1st, 2012 - BB on the left walking with her daughter who has a stub where her tail was. Some people refer to her as ''the younger tailless lion''. https://www.ournaturezone.com/index.php?topic=1088.30  *This image is copyright of its original author
|
| Users browsing this thread: |
| bloomsan, Vengeous, 163 Guest(s) |