And as we incurred further we got greater notice from the inhabitants...big and small...airborne and land-dwelling...just as a mutant gets ‘watched’ by the normal...probably never having set their eyes on ‘white’ skin.
And then quite suddenly...the denizens; man, beast and bird... turned their heads(and attentions) to something that commanded more importance...Being ‘freshmen’ our curiosity was pardonable...but it didn’t take long for us to realize the ‘natural’ order...
It was just like in the society of the ‘civilized’...where the ‘ruler’ is paid homage...with acoustics and noises...making the tribute literal...and the proceeding superficial..
Here it was subtle...and though humble..it was more ‘respectful’...”
- Early white explorers on their venture in the darkest of continents...
‘Africa’ may imply a lot of colloquialism in various circles...however, to a person who’s trodden the off-beat ever since his feet touched the ground and intent became purposeful; it stands for the apex predator of the Savannah- the Lion...
It carries a whiff of superiority...of royalty and aplomb...its tawny frame, the craggy mane; its powerful flowing stride, its loud heaves of breath...
its truly said that not seeing the beast, is certainly not an excuse for it to go unnoticed....its very presence is nothing short of emancipating..
and that is why i conclude my African adventure with this piece...Lo-behold, The King and his Harem!
The Lion invokes physicality and beauty...an epitome of raw sensuality and power...of grace and killer instinct...Be it legend and myth, or cotemporary talk....its mention is synonymous with feats of bravery, strength and rustic appeal...as much as it is of benevolence and magnanimity...and royalty and chivalry...it symbolizes the pinnacle...and of the pedigree class...on top of the pyramid...and the maximum per se...
It became a common yardstick of comparison...in decorative phrases and proverbs used in the Queen’s English and various other languages that were pertinent to regions that were inhabited by it...
And there is ‘method behind the madness’!...this was the beast that caught the attention of generations gone past...
The lion is a physical specimen hard to omit...most situations would find you looking at a wild cat of gargantuan proportions!.....500 pounds of fast twitch muscle fitted in a compact 10-11 feet body...with 3 inch retractable claws at every end of its muscular limbs that are at least 5 times the girth of a man’s! ; and 6 inch canines that can easily penetrate the toughest hide!...and if that wasn’t enough, this super heavy weight paces at 55km/h and jumps three times higher than an Olympian!
If in Africa, you have now reached the top of the mountain....The Buck Stops Here!
Nature reigns supreme...it has given the Lion much more than we may ever enhance with the help of modern science in all aspects...similarly it traded acuteness of the senses for intelligence and reasoning...which is where unfortunately Man takes the cake...and the Lion covers like a pussy cat!
The Entabeni pride consists of two adult males...one being the father of the other...and he surely knows how to exert dominance...!
And we shouldn’t blame them for ’20 hour a day sleep’ cliché !..the climes of the reserve could tranquilize the most active nimble-footer!
Needless to mention, their relaxed state of affairs should not be mistaken for sloppiness!..
We realized it in time and backed off!
The other bastion consists of three females..out of which the alpha girl reserves the right to mate first and bear offspring...
These two are 6 month old youngsters who indulge in sparring sessions that would train them for the future...
This group of seven enjoys a monopoly at the game reserve as it is the only pride that is there, also considering the size of the area as well...
In their reigning territory, they boast of the famous Waterberg escarpment, which is famous for the diversity it offers both in terms of flora and fauna...
and the famous ‘Hung-lip’ mountain that got its name because of its peculiar structure...
It is a fact that females of the pride do most of the hunting...
primarily, its because their strategy is collective in most cases...and being greater than their better halves in number gives them that advantage...
And also because being lighter, smaller and more supple in body proportions, about 65% of the male, they can manoeuvre faster and conceal themselves better...the absence of a mane may be an advantage by default though...
This by any respect doesn’t mean that the males are a wastebag of buff!....
The usual wildebeest, impala and other average ungulates are lighter and faster and therefore easily overpowered and brought down by the women...
For larger prey i.e; Cape buffalo, Eland and sometimes hippos and even crocodiles, the power of the male is an important reserve that is exercised and tips the balance in the lion’s favour...
The lion’s menu at the entabeni consists of almost all there is that breathes and eats!...
The rhino makes a formidable adversary...being seven times heavier and thick skinned it is usually left alone...it is also rather shy and avoids a confrontation in most cases...
in the rarest of times, probably out of hunger and shortage of natural prey, a male in the prime of youth may tackle it and being more agile and much stronger than the females might succeed in bringing it down...
The only animal that remains almost immune to lion attacks is jumbo...its size sayz it all!...The African elephant is 6 tons of testosterone and bulk and the sight of it at a waterhole might be enough for a whole pride to quietly slink away!...the females, though lighter and smaller live in herds led by a matriot and aggressively protect the calves that may be targeted...
This said, if in case a fight to the death does ensue in the most unlikely of cases; the lion has been known to take it on in full vigour and earnest till one or both the combatants die of their injuries...the lion usually hamstrings large prey i.e; it grips its head with its paws and attempts to bring down the animal with brute strength that is in biblical quantities in its arms, shoulders, back and legs...based on official record, full grown male lions have succeeded in doing this with young elephant bulls...once off its feet, the best of the elephants offense is taken and it is at the mercy of the lions blows and claws...
To conclude, the lion is the rightful owner of the title...though such words as brave, heroic and chivalrous don’t really hold valid in the wild where survival is the basic instinct that all animals live by...it is indeed a braver animal as compared to most....its tenacity and gallantry reach suicidal levels irrespective of the adversary it faces when the occasion calls for it..
Nature, not Man, is the ultimate creator and destroyer... it is so powerful, so beautiful, so influential, yet so humble...it never commits treason out of choice...animals have the might to crush, to kill and to decimate...
yet they live today in enclosures....and seemingly peaceful they are in their respective habitats...they never kill beyond their means...and never eat beyond their requirements...that is why their ‘homes’ are clean..and the air that they breathe is fresh...
It is WE who commit mistakes when in their ranges...and then blame them for their ‘ferocity’ and christen them as ‘bloodthirsty’...it is our inability to follow their rules, or what’s more appropriate, our carelessness and disregard for their laws that disturbs the ecosystem...
even then today, a lone person is seen as the greatest threat and the animal runs off in the opposite to avoid a mishap in which the former would be hurt...or probably as a sign of ‘understanding’ with due respect, human ‘ineptitude’ and foolishness and ‘sympathising’ in their own way at our apathy...
“if you were to ever wander into the wilderness...for food, for shelter and for security...under circumstances that you may call inconvenient, or dire, or any other that you rather not prefer to be in....then you shall be surprised to see yourself bashful...and hale and hearty the very next day....having eaten till your heart, mind and lastly your stomach’s content...having slept more peacefully than you shall ever contemplate...and having no one to disturb, leave alone to look upon you as an easy target, to wreck their fury on....
because you just spend sometime in the lap of your Mother...where to eat and drink, there is far more than your hunger or greed would be satiated with..and free of cost!....of Refuge there is always room for more than your calculative mind can ever imagine....and of violence and wrath there exists no example, living or historical...and where Avarice is none”
- A brown lad that is more content in his element than in the hustle of the cities = ME! ;-)
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