Lioness bucks the trend
2002-01-26 20:05
Nairobi - The lioness that stunned the world recently by adopting a baby antelope in a Kenyan wildlife sanctuary now appears to be escorting herds of the same species, according to a published report on Saturday.
The report in The Daily Nation said wildlife experts from the
Samburu National Reserve believe that the lioness, in complete
contrast to its own nature, has developed an unusual fondness for the oryx species which it would ordinarily make a meal of.
The national reserve's warden-in-charge, Simon Leirana, said the lioness, which has since been named Larsen, has been going hunting and has since the death of the baby oryx managed to kill and feed on a warthog and an impala.
"We have been monitoring Larsen's movements and most of the time during the day, she is trailing oryx groups," Leirana told the Nairobi newspaper.
The lioness puzzled wildlife experts, game watchers and
villagers in Samburu after it struck a friendship with an oryx
calf, escorting and protecting it around the game reserve for 15
days.
Tourists and game workers had watched in disbelief as the
lioness and the tottery brown baby oryx walk side by side and lay
down to rest with all the intimacy of a mother and calf.
She even permitted the calf's mother to nurse the baby before
resuming her guardianship. Experts believe the lioness had bonded
with the calf after both had been abandoned by their own kind.
The calf was eventually attacked and killed by a male lion while the lioness was napping. She howled in mourning for hours afterward before vanishing into the bush for a time.
"The big debate in Samburu now is whether we should intervene
and assist in conserving this most unusual lioness by feeding her, or just let nature take its course. Larsen has been kept on close watch since," he said. - Sapa-DPA
- SAPA