Ishasha lies in the south-west tip of the Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) in Uganda, which is part of the Albertine Rift Valley. The lions here are famous for their tree-climbing habit. This is where you find them in the afternoon, perched up an a fig tree, often dozing, bellies bulging from last night’s dinner, trying to escape the heat and the flies.
Each pride probably has a favorite tree as I watched a lioness seek secure footing without bothering to look where to place her paw as she tried to assume a more comfortable position.
One did not even bother to brace herself, but just let her legs dangle straight down, balancing her weight evenly on the branch.
Watch a short video clip here. Lioness Ishasha
In an interesting PhD thesis titled “A Survey of Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) Communities’ Attitudes Toward Human-Lion Conflict and Lion Conservation”, Dr. Nick M. Moghari states that in 1998-99, the lion population in QENP was estimated by Dr. Margaret Driciru (now with the Uganda Wildlife Authority) at 160-210, with just 29 in the Ishasha sector. In 2007 Dr. Moghari estimated that the lion population in QENP was between 120-200 with 36 in the Ishasha sector.
Karl G. Van Orsdol published a study (Afr. J. Ecol. 1984, Volume 22, pages 79-99) of foraging behaviors and hunting success of lions in the QENP, comparing the lions in the Mweya sector vs. the Ishasha sector and found interesting differences. He observed that the main prey species in Mweya are buffalo, bushbuck, kob, warthog and waterbuck, while in Ishasha, the prey is a little different, with topi instead of bushbuck, the others being the same. Hunting methods were also different between the Ishasha lions and the Mweya lions. Grass searching hunts only occurred in Ishasha while digging hunts for warthog were only recorded in Mweya. Mweya lions did most of their hunting during the day, while Ishasha lions are more nocturnal. However, Ishasha lions more more successful during daytime hunts than at night. In both sectors, hunting was more successful on moonless nights than on moonlit nights regardless of cloud cover.
These differences are most likely adaptation to circumstances – available prey, and terrain differences rather than any biologic differences in the two groups of lions.
Lions were once the most broadly ranging mammals in the world. Lion fossils go as far back as the Late Pliocene in Eastern Africa about 2 million years ago. By Mid Pleistocene, about 500,000 years ago, lions were in Europe, and by the Late Pleistocene, about 100,000 years ago traveled to the Americas and Eurasia (see Antunes, A . et al. (2008)). Lions became extinct in Europe 2000 years ago and in North Africa and the Middle East 150 years ago. Less than 50,000 lions now exist in Sub-Saharan Africa and in India (Gir Forest) combined. Antunes and others have shown by genetic analysis of lion DNA and that of lion feline immunodeficiency virus, which is an AIDS-like viral infection in lions, that the lions in East Africa are derived from 3 distinct genetic populations that mingled relatively recently, rather than being from a homogeneous genetic pool, with migration of a Southern African lion population northwards into East Africa about 14,000 years ago.
Buffalo are one of the prey of QENP lions. © D. Banerjee 2008
Uganda kob. © D. Banerjee 2008
Waterbuck. © D. Banerjee 2008
Topi © D. Banerjee 2008
Warthog visits the Mweya Lodge. © D. Banerjee 2008
Minor mishap. © D. Banerjee 2008
Even a 4×4 vehicle can get stuck. We lost traction when we hit a hump of earth and got the undercarriage hung up. It was a good break for a stretch and no lions attacked, although I am sure we were under surveillance!
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