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doedsie i read the story!!!WOW i can't believe the damage!!Thanks for sharing

Doedsie that certainly is a hair-raising experience My goodness Thank goodness your window was up I am always cautious when lions are around with regards to open windows but it seems that you didn't even see him coming!!! Wow it must have been scary to say the least!!

the same... or maybe more with bicycles
but that is another problem...

why we would pedal in the park

The incident highlighted by doedsie is extremely rare, considering all lion contacts, but it cannot be ignored.

One wonders whether the lion is a rogue, ill or what.

Having been on the receiving end of a playful lion on our last trip, I certainly wouldn't even want them to only play with me if I was on a bicycle. I found it quite intimidating already to have such a muscleman in disguise coming after my car. Just imagine being on a bike.

BTW, it was not one of the lions shown in the video but rather one of those who got a good bashing from them. See here

I wouldn't say it was an attack, rather a combination of cat curiosity, young playfulness and a complete lack of respect or fear of the vehicle. Their behaviour towards a human on foot or on a bicycle shouldn't be as overt but I'm not volunteering to test.

A few years ago we had a young elephant who also had no fear and a lack of respect for landrovers and he started to touch and eventually push our vehicles if you didn't get away, he got so close to one of our trackers that his trunk was hanging down between the trackers' feet! The local researchers' bakkie started looking a bit worse for wear. Ways were discussed on how to teach the youngster to have a bit of respect again including connecting up the researchers' bakkie to an electric fence energizer but by the time I left nothing had been implemented, apparently though he slowly lost his interest in cars as he got older.

These young males will eventually lose grow out of this 'naughty' behaviour but will always have no fear of vehicles.

So... could one 'teach' them to have respect again without harming them?

you are right Graham Dyer, attack is not the good word...

Hi Everyone

This is my first time posting on these forums

Last August my fiance and I also had a run in with 3 lions, I think it was an older female and two youngsters.

(it was my first ever visit to a national park)

The older one was just chilling by the side of the road and the other two where infront of the car lying down and then the both got up walked towards to the car and before we even realized what was happening one of them proceeded to pull the mud guard thing off the drivers side by the front tyre.

Im not sure if mud guard is the right word, coz its not a functional mud guard more of those "for asthetic" types

Anyway, after it was pulled off, the 3 of them proceeded to play tug of war with it and roll around with their new toy.

I have a picture, yet Im not super tech savy so will see if I can figure out how to add it

http://www.flickr.com/photos/93237632@N ... hotostream

welcome to the forum
you have to put the link in between [img]......[/img] http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8235/8475 ... 9477e0.jpg
the second in :"share - BBC code"

like that

Hi Anne-Marie

Thanks a million for the welcome and the heads up on how to add an image it sounds simple enough.

We have another picture of two of them playing tug of war with the piece they pulled off the car yet its not on my computer so will see if I can add it soon.

Thanks again

Josh

africatravelchannel and other Mites reading this thread. I also just want to add my latest experience of two male lions chasing our car more or less in the Montrose area during our holiday end December/begin January this year! You can read about it in my latest Trip Report: The (Green) Auob and (Dry) Nossob in Dec/Jan. It was very exciting, but not pleasant when I had to drive faster and faster to eventually shake then off!! In 2006 a lion 'attacted' a car and trailer at Marie se Draai and bit off all the electrical wires at the rear of the vehicle and damaged the trailer with huge scratch marks!

Hi all Check out the discussion here from last year on this subject

John Varty says Pepper spray works. Just spray it on the tires not the lion. The smell is very strong.

Oh my! I think we are going to have to doubly ensure a good hire car insurance policy before our first visit next May....just in case!

LOL Threedogs and take along a spare tyre for the spare tyre just in case hahahahahaha