Kruger Park News | If some lions get their way ...

Wednesday 27 August 2003 Office bound most of the day... Decided late afternoon to get out into the bush and go camping near the Mphongolo – Phugwane confluence. It was already dark when I found a suitable site. The soil was quite hard and I had to use a solid piece of wood to hammer the tent pegs into the ground. With the tent erected I threw the chunk of wood into a clearing three metres away – a good spot to make my campfire.

In the starlight I saw a brownish shape jump up where the piece of wood landed. It looked kudu-ish, about the height of a young kudu. But … it did not run far and did not run like an antelope! With high levels of adrenalin in my veins I grabbed my spotlight.

There, not more than 15 m away I saw a two-year-old male lion, crouching with tail twisting, looking straight at me! This lion had stalked me until he was a mere three or four metres away from where I was pitching my tent. One jump and that would have been the last of me. I tried to chase the lion off by throwing pieces of wood at him. He just twisted his ears.

Even a warning shot into the ground close to him couldn’t move him. Lions are social predators. Where were his buddies? The lion was in an average condition, and definitely hungry-looking. Kobus Wentzel is the regional ranger in the northern region of the Park. These are excerpts from Kobus’ diary: August 27 and 28, 2003 (I think that in the lion’s head he was already cutting me into lion-size chops and steaks!) Staying there would have been folly.

It could have resulted either in me getting killed by the lion(s), or me shooting the lion. Both options were rather unattractive, and I decided to leave that area and camp somewhere else. (Camp, I was going to camp!) The somewhere else turned out to be an open area close to the eastern boundary.

Without a lion in sight. And this time I scanned the area properly with the spotlight before making camp! This was the second close shave I have had with a lion. The previous time was a few years back when Peter Scott, then ranger at Punda Maria and I were busy fighting a fire late at night at Pafuri, we were stalked by a lion until he was very close, only five metres away.

We were probably saved when one of our vehicles drove up to us and flushed the growling lion from where he had been eyeing us. The lesson? Scan the area with a torch before you get out of your vehicle in the veld at night. Not once. Frequently scan the area. Next time I may not be so fortunate. Writing here I am getting ice-cold thinking about what could have happened if I hadn’t thrown the piece of wood at that specific moment. One is often not aware how one’s life is balanced on a knife-edge. Thursday 28 August 2003 Go on patrol along the eastern boundary. Visit the site in the Nyandu where 14,85 km of fence will be dropped this year. The fence removal team has already removed the diamond mesh along the northern 5 km. This is quite a big job and will take at least another month to completely remove all the cable, wire and droppers.

Also visit the Roan Enclosure. Vlakteplaas Ranger had tried to burn the perimeter safe earlier the month, but there was not much combustible material and it was a bit wet. It only burnt in patches. Enjoyed another beautiful evening camping in the bush.

The stars are brightly scattered jewels strewn on impenetrably distant black velvet, the crown jewel among them the ruby-coloured Mars. Mars is the closest to Earth (55 000 000 km) it has been in many thousand years. Will have to wait another 22000 years or so for Mars to be that close. Will probably miss it. Definitely if some lions get their way.