Lion behaviour towards other members of their species can be horrifically shocking and cruel, or kind and generous as well as cute and loving. Sometimes all of the above behaviours can be observed in a single pride.
The family that my wife and I are most familiar with is a small pride headed by the matriarch Josie in the Addo Elephant Park. Most visits to that reserve end without a lion sighting, but sometimes we are lucky enough to observe this amazing family. We have been going to Addo about once or twice a month for more than a decade and we see the pride perhaps two to three times a year.
This does not sound very often and we would certainly like it to be more frequent, but social media allows me to experience the Addo lions vicariously on an almost daily basis. Thanks to WhatsApp and Facebook, it is possible to know where the lions have been seen in the last day or so and even when I have no plans to go to the Park, I like knowing where they are and what they are doing.
Josie (born in August 2008) and her two daughters (December 2014), Dawn and Duffy almost always hang out together. If you happen to see only one or two of ‘the girls’ you can be sure that the others are snoozing behind a nearby bush, or calling out to get their sister’s attention.
The most remarkable aspect of their story is that Josie is virtually blind. At first she lost sight in her right eye and in recent months it seems that she is not seeing very well with her ‘good’ eye. She occasionally stumbles as she walks around with her two daughters yet she appears to be in remarkable shape, especially for a lioness who is getting on in years.
As far back as January 2017, Pete Leyland wrote on Facebook that Josie appears to have a problem with her eyesight, “and has been seen to accidentally collide with trees and even cars. Quite how bad it is and how much it affects her remains to be seen – she has always been a successful hunter.” Six years later, she is still with us and doing just fine.
Josie is a big lioness and she is clearly well fed, but for practical purposes she cannot hunt, unless of course she traps a warthog in a hole. Dawn and Duffy on the other hand, are superb hunters and have no trouble taking down zebras, kudus or even buffalo. They surely hunt their prey and invite their mother to join in the feast.
The three lionesses keep close together. Once a kill has been made, they gently call to each other so they can all enjoy the feast. Dawn and Duffy are good providers and their excellent physical condition proves it.
It can be a little scary when Josie stares straight at you with that enlarged, milky eye. There is no doubt that her right eye is completely blind, but it’s not easy to say how much she can see with the left one. She still moves gracefully even if she sometimes appears to be uncertain as she pauses to look at the ground.
Watching Josie can also be somewhat heart-breaking as you sense her insecurity about moving around and relying so much on her daughters.
Now one might easily say that this is not surprising because surely daughters should feed their mother? The problem is that wild animals are not generally considerate of individuals of their own kind who have been disabled. An upsetting example of how little animals tolerate infirmities was provided by Josie’s three sons. When they were darted and tranquilised for translocation to Madikwe Game Reserve in May 2019, one of the three brothers took longer than the other two to recover from the darting. He was befuddled and behaved erratically causing his brothers to turn on him and kill him without mercy.
Since the birth of the three male cubs in March/April 2017, no lions have been born in the main section of the Addo Elephant Park. It is believed that Josie and her daughters have been on some sort of birth control regime. We can’t be sure about this because park management is reluctant to share any information about its activities. Occasionally rumours have circulated about one the daughters being taken off contraceptives causing Addo Addicts to check if they can spot pregnant bellies.
So far all in vain. No cubs have been born despite several false alarms. Occasionally visitors report on dalliances between one of the daughters and the only two male lions in the main section: Niklaas and Witwarm, but still no sign of cubs.
Those who run the Park must surely be getting concerned about the lack of new feline blood in the main section. It is believed that the two males are around 13 years old, Josie is close to 15 and her two daughters are the youngest at nine years old.
A knowledgeable member of the Addo Chat Group on WhatsApp believes there will be “some action soon” as it is important to keep a balance on lion population numbers. He says that contraception usually lasts between two and three years and it appears that either Dawn or Duffy should be able to have her first cubs.
On a positive note, he concludes: “Parks go through different stages in their conservation efforts, there will be good lion sightings and a pride again in the near future I'm sure”.
This is encouraging because just a few years ago there were 13 lions in the main section and we spotted lions far more regularly. I supposed the park’s buffalo and other prey species wouldn’t really agree with me.
Links:
Colin Grenfell Photography video of Niklaas and Witwarm on Facebook, here
St Francis Chronicle, Feb 2013: Two male lions transferred to Karoo National Park today
Thanks for the interesting story. It's cool that the daughters are providing for their mother, but more amazing that they have been doing it for so long.
Has Josie ever been examined to determine the cause of her blindness?
That's a good read - and interesting to see how nature can be kind and cruel in different ways. Thanks for sharing.