SANParks.org Forums

Greetings all!
At the outset my pics are not from Kruger, they are from a well known KZN park. I am posting it for the purpose of stimulating discussion and sharing something.

If it is of the opinion of the moderators that the thread should be removed for this reason then I apologize.
May I continue?

Actually, depends on the discussion
If it is about lion behaviour its allowed
We do allow animal discussions in South Africa.
But without promoting any park or reserve other then SANparks
Will move your topic to the animal thread, as the lions have nothing to
do with Kruger at the moment.

OK Thanks- just wanted to share this!

Now I know of lions climbing trees for various reasons:
They are known to do so when attempting to poach leopards prey
They have used the trees to avoid attack from formidable prey like buffalo
They are known in some parts to climb trees to avoid biting flies
Not so sure about going up trees to avoid the heat?

What I also dont know if this is seen regularly in Kruger-I havent seen this phenomenon in the times I have visited!

So here are pics to stimulate some discussion or to let others share their experiences.

Over the time that I was in this park I saw 2 prides of 4 each
Both prides had mature males and adult females and all wer up in the trees.

It was hot- temp 35 but know parks can get much hotter and we see them lounging under trees!

Enjoy! I think it is strange and nice to see

Evening Luren,
It is not uncommon to find lions on trees and in some national parks it is a regular behaviour. Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania, is famous for it's tree climbing lions and I don't why they do it.
I've see lions on trees many times but Lake Manyara is something special and they actually go up trees to take a nap.
This one was taken in Kenya and seems this male always placed himself on trees

This is the first pride with 2 females in one tree and 2 males in another 20 metres apart



This is the male actually fast asleep then climbing down

This is the second pride.
You can see the lions up on the branches





Enjoy!

Hiya Luren, beautiful images... and for me, also quite an unusual sighting.

BTW, at the beginning of August 1997 in the Nyalaland wilderness area, lions chased Mozambican refugees up a tree and pulled them down one by one and ate them. So they climb trees to hunt as well.

There is an awesome pic of a male lion that was chased up a tree on the Forum as well.

Here is a nice photo re Rumuruti's post:

http://goafrica.about.com/od/tanzaniapa ... thern-.htm"

Perhaps it is also a technique in Serengeti to detect prey on the plains?

Look at that lady lion how she is sitting

Hi Elzet, during certain months of the year tsetse flies in Lake Manyara can be unbearable and that seems the main reason lions climb trees.
In Serengeti you'll usually find them on top of ant hills. The southern part of the park is FLAT, no trees, very little bush and the only thing higher than 6 feet are elephants and ant hills.
It has been seen up in the northern area and they do it mainly during the period when the herds of wildebeest and zebras are in Kenya. Very little to eat and so they have learnt to climb on trees and thus have a wide and far view for game.

very interesting behaviour! especially for our lions. Thanks for the info on the east african lions RUMURUTI, its great to have a person here with first hand knowledge

I wonder why the lions in KZN are doing this, they are not adapted to tree climbing so i would imagine it would take more energy to climb in terms of not having specially adapted claws for gripping or the technique??

It looks a tad bit uncomfortable, doesn't it, Micetta?

Rums, I read about the tsetse flies and the escape techniques in the link that I have posted. Thanks for elucidating. Like Ods says, first hand is best hand.

Interesting pics there Luren very unusual

I was lucky enough to stay at Tinga Privat Game Lodge, near Skukuza, last year and we saw lions in a tree along the sabie river (in the area beween the low and high level bridges, on the Tinga concession between the sabie and the sand, but within sight of the public road).

The guide was checking a huge sycamore fig for a leopard that had been spotted there earlier, with a kill. The leopard ran down the tree and took off. Seconds later, four lionesses appeared (they'd been staking out the tree). Two climed up into the tree - one quite high. They weren't bad at climbing, but both were very nervous and quite inept at getting back down again. They gave up before they reached the kill.

I've got a reasonable pic of it, and if I could work out how to post pics here (I still haven't got my head around that yet), I would. It's the only time in 15 years of visits to Kruger I've seen lions in a tree.

Hi Luren!

In Kenya we saw a whole pride lying in a tree!!!

That was an amazing sighting!!