Elephant Eaters of the Savuti

by Leigh Kemp, 1 October 2006

The following extract is from Leigh's journal, recorded after he witnessed this unique pride taking down an elephant in the Savuti.

'An old elephant bull went down near pump pan early yesterday and not long after the pride arrived on the scene. The elephant had been attempting to get up but it was too weak and with the arrival of the lions the attempts became more frantic. Other elephant attempted to chase the lions off but each time they would move off a little way before returning. The lions began to eat the still living elephant from the rear end.'

The drama continued through the night and into the next day until eventually, after many ever-weakening attempts at getting up, the elephant died. The lions had gorged themselves while the elephant was still alive'.

This pride of lions in Savuti, Botswana has since specialized in preying on elephants. They started by killing young elephant, moving onto sub-adults until finally successfully hunting adults. There is a debate as to whether this particular incident set in motion the behaviour of elephant killing now practiced by these lions where the death throes of the elephant brought to the surface memories of past behaviour.

Today the pride is 32 strong and is renowned for its elephant killing capabilities.

Lions are on top of the predator chain, dominant over other predators, but they do have their competition in spotted hyenas. Once thought to be cowering scavengers the hyenas are now known to be worthy adversaries of lions, and in places even dominant over the lions. It has been proven that in many areas of Africa the hyena hunts more than the lion does with up to 70% of hyenas' food coming from hunting while lions on the other hand scavenge more than they hunt in many areas.

From Termites to Elephant

Despite their scavenging prowess lions are very capable predators, able to kill any animal in Africa - from termites to elephant. They have been observed licking up termites and other insects - whether from an urge to eat or from mere inquisitiveness - and in one area of Botswana have specialized in killing adult elephant.

In many areas prides specialize in one species of prey - for example in the Linyanti area of Botswana there is a pride that specializes in hunting hippo and 50km away in Savuti there is a pride specializing in hunting adult elephant. How both these hunting specialization came to be is debatable as they were both unrecorded in the past. Are they learned behaviours or memories from the past.

Games of the Elephant Eaters

The Savuti pride, the elephant killers, came across some banded mongooses and all but one of the mongooses managed to escape into a termite mound. The lions began to toy with the one that had not escaped, eventually killing it. The game did not stop there however and for the next hour I watched members of the pride use the dead mongoose as a toy / football. When they tired of the game they left the carcass without eating it.

Lions and hyenas

There is a general view that lions are the ultimate hunters and hyenas are scavengers. This perception is built up from the fact that when lions are feeding on a kill there will always be hyenas around waiting for the lions to move off. The truth is somewhat different.

Hyenas are deadly hunters in their own right and lions will often scavenge from them. In some parts of Africa the majority of lions' diet is made up from scavenging from other predators, whereas hyenas' diets are made up of prey that they have hunted themselves. Hyenas are known to steal kills from lions.

Male lions

When male lions are in the vicinity of the pride they will move in on a kill and eat first, leaving the lionesses to wait until they are finished. I have observed interesting behaviour when a pride of lionesses killed a giraffe and began to feed with their cubs. While they fed the pride male began to call from a distance while moving in the direction of the kill. I listened as he got nearer, calling continuously. This was the first meal in many days for the lionesses and they were not about to give it up. They remained silent and covered up the stomach contents with sand to prevent the scent from carrying. The male lion passed within one hundred meters of the kill and the lionesses remained silent.

Lions and water

There is a general theory that lions avoid water if they can and this may be true for many parts of Africa, however the lions of the Okavango Delta in Botswana are very much at home when it comes to water. The home ranges of the lions are forever undergoing change due to the fluctuating water levels and the prey species are moving constantly from island to island with the result that lions have to cross water to find prey. In some parts of the delta lions have even adapted to using the water during the hunt.

Article © Copyright 2006 Go2Africa.

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