15/04/2025
On a Botswana safari my group was lucky enough to experience a real story sighting. It had excitement, drama and an ending. We were on the edge of our seats the whole time.
The content cannot tell the full story without the caption so here it is.
We came across 2 Lioness, sisters each with with cubs. They were very hungry. Strong but hungry and clearly on the hunt. The sisters had left the cubs behind as they went on the hunt… a deadly, powerful looking duo.
They quickly came across a female Giraffe with a youngster, on the move. It took a second for the duo to split into an instinctive hunting formation with one of the sisters running ahead to chase the Giraffe towards the other lioness. The other lioness was caught slightly out of position and missed her target. This chase, although far away, can be seen in slide 3.
In the process the sisters were split up. Walking unknowingly in different directions after the chaos of the hunt. This is where the real drama began. We followed as one of the lioness desperately searched for her sister. The separation anxiety the lioness seemed to show was palpable. She walked and walked searching every landmark for her sister. She visited termite mounds, different areas of bush and even a waterhole where she watched quietly as a herd of elephants approached. They could not see her but they could smell her and they did not like it.
Eventually after about 2 hours of searching she returned to the original scene of the chase. Suddenly she stopped, ears and eyes fixed forwards clearly sensing something. We didn’t know if it was friend or foe as we sat with bated breath waiting for something to happen. In a moment I will never forget, her sister appeared from behind a bush and they ran forwards in greeting, literally collapsing in a heap of relief as they lay together basically in each others arms. Slide 11.
It reminded me how unforgiving and unrelenting life is for wildlife. In that moment there was so much self reflection of human to animal in the stress she clearly displayed followed by such obvious relief. A great sighting and moment.
