A huge herd of elephants wandering across the savanna plain at the Aboseli National park in Kenya. A impressive sight with the white Cattle Egret following the elephants to catch insects and small animals being disturbed by the heavy foot steps of the herd. This afternoon we had the whole scenery for ourself, a spectacular afternoon on the savanna. The vague shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro can be seen in the background.
The lions here is from the semi desert area of the Samburu. Lions normally live in the grasslands but here they prey on animals coming down to drink at the Ewaso Ng’iro river in Samburu. The lion family here had managed to kill a baby elephant and was now eating until they could hardly move. This eating feast had rendered some of the lions immobile and they where lying still with heavy breathing and unable to move their big tummy’s. Lions in Africa have been observed hunting down elephant calves and eating them whole. The unusual behavior was captured on film by a safari guide in the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.
The guide, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that he saw a lioness stalking an elephant calf under a bush. A few minutes later, the lioness emerged from under the bush with the dead calf in her mouth. She then carried it to a nearby tree and began eating it.
A group of three other lionesses soon arrived and began eating their fill from the carcass. The guide said that he had never seen lions hunt and eat an elephant calf before. He speculated that they may have been attracted to the baby elephant because it was weaker and easier prey than an adult elephant.
