It was our first morning of our Mara Triangle October trip. The weather was cool and overcast, and it had been raining the night before. We decided to drive along the Bottom River road to try and find a lioness, known to have four cubs, along the Mara river near the Maji Ma Chafu crossing.

“A lion is born knowing how to hunt, but has to learn how to hunt well.” ~ Matshona Dhliwayo

On the way to Maji Ma Chafu we found two lionesses and three adolescent cubs lying in the road with a six-strong bachelor herd of “dagga boys”, old Cape buffalo bulls, clustering together in the grass near the road. Superficially, the scene looked like a stand-off. In reality, it was an opportunity for the adolescents to get some experience hunting buffalo.

This scene looked to be a classic training lesson for these young lions. One adolescent female took the lead. She crossed the road and began stalking the buffalo. This lioness was in plain sight and the “dagga boys”, the old buffalo bulls, had a good visual on her as she approached them. They allowed her to get reasonably close to them but she was badly outnumbered and outsized. No other adolescents came to help her. That level of cooperation, when hunting, still had to be learnt.

As soon as the adolescent got close enough, all six “dagga boys” turned to face her and began to chase her. She quickly realised she was on her own and decided withdrawal was a smart move, given the approaching wall of bosses.

“Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.”~ Anton Chekhov

The “dagga boys” chased the adolescent lion just far enough to reassert a decent “fight or flight” gap. The buffalo did not know how many lions were lying hidden in the grass. A mature Cape buffalo can weigh up to 900 kilograms and wields lethal, sweeping horns capable of goring a lion. Buffalo are also known to have coordinated defense and will actively protect one another and will counter-attack to rescue a trapped member.

After one or two charges the buffalo must have judged that the single lion approach was just an ineffectual skirmish from one youngster and assessed that the lion pride consisted of two adults and three youngsters with all five lions being visible to the buffalo.

One of the adult lionesses kept a keen eye on her youngster while she was trying out her hunting skills. I am sure if the youngster had got herself into trouble, the two adult lionesses would have moved in very quickly to alter the asymmetric dynamics.

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” ~ Benjamin Franklin

The other cubs looked to be around one year old. You can the age of lion cubs by comparing their size, physical features, and coat patterns to an adult female. Newborn cubs have dark spots that fade as they grow, though faint marks can remain on their belly and legs. At around one year of age the cub reaches about half of the mother’s total shoulder height.

One of the lionesses did cross the road to check the buffalos’ advances. The adolescent quickly sought some attention and affirmation from the lioness by being allowed to rub herself against her mother.

A young blonde adolescent male also crossed the road to seek some attention from the lioness. He had no intention of trying anything with the onlooking six old “dagga boys” but seemed have ignored them completely. A mistake because they were still uncomfortably close.

The lioness was clearly unhappy with the young male’s disregard for the buffalo bulls proximity. When the young male tried to play with the lioness, she quickly put him in his place.

“He who cannot obey himself will be commanded. That is the nature of living creatures.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

The other larger lioness who was still on the other side of the road just watched the goings while the young male was being chastised. It was interesting that the lionesses were quiet other than the growl from the lioness who was chastising the young male.

Incredibly while the buffalo bulls were slowly walking away, the adolescents quickly began to play by chasing and tackling each other. The lesson was over, tension broken and it was play time.

It was fascinating to watch the hunting lesson and how each of the adolescents reacted to the opportunity to learn. Given the size and coordination of the six old buffalo bulls the hunt was never going to turn into anything serious for the “dagga boys”, old buffalo bulls. It could have been very serious for the adolescent female lion if the buffaloes had caught her. Then it would have been very interesting to see how the two adult lionesses would have reacted.

It can take a lion cub about two-and-a-half years to become a proficient hunter, but mastering dangerous, large prey like an adult Cape buffalo often requires three to four years of experience within the pride. Year old lions begin joining active hunts, though they often bungle attempts by revealing their position to the prey too early. It is only once they have regularly taken part in hunts that they develop basic killing skills, though complex teamwork needed for tackling large animals such as buffalo. Unlike hunting smaller or more solitary prey, bringing down a buffalo requires precise pride coordination—some lions isolate the target while others time their attacks on the rear or back of the animal. All of these tactics and skills are learnt.

The two lionesses and their adolescent cubs were probably part of a much larger pride. The lone lioness with her very young cubs not far away at Maji Ma Chafu crossing were also probably part of the larger pride. The very small cubs were likely hidden from adolescents because the latter would be too rough with their very small cousins. Over the next few days we saw one large male in the same area and he was probably the cubs’ father.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Lions are the most sociable member of the larger cat family. They live in prides normally up to 20 members, with up to three males, several adult females (one dominant), and a number of sub-adults and cubs. In the Serengeti, a few years earlier we came across a pride of 70 lions. They were not all together because it would have made hunting and feeding impossible. We assumed they were family sub-groups where a coalition of males dominated all the sub-families.

“Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.” – Lao Tzu

Typically males may hold territory of between 20-400 square kms. within which may comprise several prides of females. In the Masai Mara, females do most of the hunting, helped by males when it comes to taking down large prey. The lions favour wildebeest and zebra, but outside of the annual ‘migration’, they have to adapt to taking on other prey, such as buffalo and warthogs.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike