After the incident of the lioness that killed the camel in the Conservation Area, we followed her tracks down to the river, and here we found clear, fresh tracks of lion cubs! There was an area where the cubs had been playing in the open and the mother was not around. The cubs also managed to kill or find a dead dikdik and dragged it into a small cave in a Salvadora bush, where they fed on it. Their most recent tracks disappeared into some thick bushes along with their mother.
Tracks of the cubs. We place a pen next to them to show size.
We returned to the area in the evening and waited along the road to see if we could get a visual of the lioness and her cubs. At 6:06 pm, Jeneria suddenly said “she’s there!” and for one second, we had a sighting of the female alone. She saw us and slowly disappeared into thick bush and did not come out again.
I was really excited – I hadn’t seen a lion in the Conservation Area since August 2009. Although I barely got a proper sighting of her, I believe that this is Magilani. She is in her usual area and very close to the bushes she used to always be seen in. We last saw her in August 2009 at the peak of the drought and I believe she disappeared to give birth and has now returned with her 2 young cubs.
The area where Magilani used to hide has been destroyed in the floods. Hiding places are more scarce.
Unfortunately her usual hiding area has been destroyed in the floods. The March 2010 floods destroyed much of the vegetation along the river, flattening the Salvadora bushes and uprooting giant trees.
News of cubs is great news for Westgate and we will be keeping a close eye on the female and her cubs to ensure their safety in the area. Hopefully over time, we will get a proper visual of the female and confirm that it is indeed Magilani.