The Rule book of behaviour often gets thrown out the window

Lions, eles and more. Adaptive behaviours

Animals are forever rewriting the so called rule book of behaviours. Lions are cats and won’t cross water! Lions are much heavier than leopards and won’t climb trees! Perhaps the first rule of animal behaviour that we humans need to understand is that the rules we apply are frequently broken. All these creatures are remarkable for their ability to adapt to environment and circumstances. Lions in parts of the Okavango Delta in Botswana have seasonal flooding in their home ranges. There are times when they simply have to cross water, preferably where it’s shallow enough.

In Tanzania, parts of Kruger NP in South Africa and in other pockets, lions for a number of reasons, have adapted to climb trees. It might be partly to escape the heat, flies and parasites on the ground, We know it’s also for spotting potential prey beyond the immediate bushes and terrain, because we observe them looking. Often intently for extended periods at the movement of animals.

Elephants too have an extraordinary capacity to adapt their behaviour to circumstances, especially with the inadvertent help of humans. In times of drought – in places like Botswana’s Makgadikgadi pans, they will locate water in wells and bores, in the instance below even removing a heavy concrete lid to access the life giving liquid.

Of course this also brings them into conflict with humans, one of the biggest and most complex intersections for the future of wildlife and the communities they live near and often amongst.
Elephants and lions in particular represent a huge threat to village and rural people going about their daily lives, fetching water from wells or children walking to school. Here’s a story from Namibia on one of hundreds of projects across Africa, where solutions are being sought to a growing problem.

The Desert Lion Early Warning Conflict Mitigation System

One of the incredible organisations we’ve been involved with over the years is the Kope Lion Project in Tanzania. The Maasai people who live in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and graze their cattle are frequently in contact with lions. It’s almost inevitable as the space they share is tight. You can imagine that cattle are the easiest of targets for lions, especially those cats that might be older, weaker and less mobile. But with only about 20,000 lions left in the wild in all Africa, revenge killings can have a big impact on lion populations in the area. The Kope team, made up of mostly Maasai people, work closely with the villages and herders to mitigate this conflict. One of the most respected experts on lion-human conflict in Africa is Ingela Jansson, who founded Kope Lion in 2011. Many of our Epic clients over the years have incorporated a meet up with Kope and Ingela into their safaris around Ngorongoro Crater. She and her team are champion people doing a critical job.

https://kopelion.org/

The amazing Ingela Jansson outside the Kope Lion office on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater.

I guess this topic takes us to a bigger picture. Some species can cope with a certain amount of disruption or changed circumstances, to their environment, but there are always tipping points, where pressure from humans for example or habitat loss can mean the death knock for a local population. In placing an economic or environmental value on wildlife, we must understand the protection of biodiversity is critical to our future as well as animals. In Australia, koalas in the wild are under serious threat from habitat loss, they’re slow moving and easily stressed, which impacts their immune systems and mortality, so populations can collapse quickly.

We can’t finish here before a tribute to leopards. The ultimate creatures for finding a way, even in extreme cases on the edge of urban environments. In Africa and India, leopards, or at least the signs of them, have been discovered in the most unlikely of areas. Secretive, solitary, elusive and magnificent cats. Never a guaranteed sighting on your safari, but an incredible thrill and a rush if you’re lucky enough to have an encounter. A great image from Rob to leave off here, with a leopard mum transporting her cub to a new den in the darkness.

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Photography:Brad Horn + Simon Reeve + Rob Barbour