The dynamics of lions Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve of late have been nothing short of amazing! With different prides of lions moving into the area, one after the other, leaves us mesmerised and wanting to know if all these prides will tolerate each other. There have been a lot of confrontations and fighting among these prides, so much so that some got badly hurt and some escaping with minor injuries. New males are coming in to try and extend their territories and they would want it to be known that they are also in the area. This kind of behaviour and change however makes other prides, like the Styx Pride who have cubs (almost sub adult), uncertain of their future in this territory so they keep moving around trying to avoid other lion prides.

We started our evening drive following up on some lions tracks we found in the morning, but we had no success in finding any lions. From the tracks we had found, it signaled towards the new Talamati Pride which has been in our area for some time now. Our hopes were all bought down as the tracks kept moving to the north of our reserve and we had no more time to keep following. We decided to have our sundowners and make our back to camp for dinner.

As we were making our way back to the lodge, one of the rangers found lions not far from where we were tracking them, so we decided to go there. Our guests were really delighted we had found the lions and we decided to delay dinner slightly. My tracker and I were surprised to see the Styx Pride as we were thinking it was the Talamati Pride we were tracking. We had not seen the Styx Pride in a while.

The lion’s behaviour always changes when they see some potential prey, the older females suddenly moved away from the road and took cover in the closest bushes while the cubs stood still and in one area. Our guests could not have guessed what was going on and we quietly explained what was happening. As it was dark, we had no clue what the target was as the lions switched from a normal walk into stalking mode.

We repositioned our vehicle and thus when we realised that not far away from us was a warthog with half its body out of its burrow and it had no idea of what was to follow. One lioness took advantage of a small log close to the warthog burrow and went as close as she could and just waited for the right time. At this moment our guests had a full understanding of what was going on. Mixed emotions and the zeal of watching a hunt nobody had anticipated.

Suddenly, the warthog ran out of the burrow straight into into jaws of a hungry lioness. The rest of the pride rushed to help as they could hear the never-ending squealing of the dying warthog. We could hardly see the warthog as the whole pride started fighting for a place to get a piece of meat. Still all in shock and emotions showing in the eyes of our guests, more than five very small piglets ran out of the burrow, unnoticed by the lions, and ran a far as they could into the dark night.

As if that was enough, there are always uninvited guests. Hyenas arrived with the anticipation of overthrowing the lions but walked into a big surprise as the lionesses never gave in. The sound of howling hyenas and the growling lions was so intense; we were all quiet and just watching as two top predators battle it out for survival. The feeling of being in the middle of darkness, surrounded by lions and hyenas, is one that can never truly be explained.

A never-ending night it was. As this was going, the noise suddenly stopped, and the hyenas took off and all the cubs ran leaving the carcass on the ground. The lionesses were also alert. Suddenly, a big male lion approached, running towards the kill. The Styx lionesses stood their ground and fought for their kill until the male lion ran back to where he came from. Victory is always sweet, but the male lion had other plans. He came back very quickly with another male and a young female. At this point we realised it was the Talamati Pride and the odds were looking bad for the Styx lionesses as they were already outnumbered. They took off following the direction where the cubs ran towards and the Talamati lions claimed the remains of the kill.

All of this in a space of twenty minutes – from a quiet night to an unexpected hunt, and more. As one of my guests said, “From watching dung beetles push dung, to a lion hunt!’’

This was an unexpected sighting, but one we will never forget!