| On safari-- wildlife and nature photos |
 By night Click to enlarge | The lions of Selinda |  Royal escort © Mike Bailey |
| One kind of beauty... |  |  |  |
| A Selinda lioness relaxes-- as cats do-- against the backdrop of Zibadianja lagoon |
| ...and another: |  |  |  |  |
| The pride with a windfall, an elephant which died of old age |
These images document some of the fortunes and misfortunes of the Selinda pride in the early 2000s
Tough lions-- good times, tough times
Northern Botswana is great lion country. From 2000 to 2002, the Selinda pride numbered more than 20, the neighbouring Bridge pride was nearly as big
In 1999, a coalition of four big males took over the prides, siring nearly 30 cubs between them in the next two or three years
Confrontation over a kill
With plentiful large prey, such as zebra, buffalo and hippo, the prides flourished. But late in 2000, a bushfire brought tragedy to the Selinda pride. The lionesses were injured so badly that they could not feed their cubs...some of whom feature in the pictures above. All 14 youngsters starved to death. Read my account
"The Selinda pride- A baptism of fire" 
The pride recovered-- and two years later, Yvonne and I were back to photograph the lionesses and their new batch of cubs. We saw them with the 'windfall' elephant carcass, a meal which enabled them to conserve their hunting energy for some days. Life wasn't drama-free. There was the cub who needed its mother's help to keep up, because of a badly gashed leg. And the nomad male who seemed to have come off second-best in a clash with the resident males
But tough times were just around the corner again. The resident males moved on, the two most experienced lionesses succumbed to old age, and there were many temporary intrusions by other males. Both the Selinda and Bridge prides seemed to fracture. By mid-2004, the Selinda pride had lost half its numbers, some moving off, some apparently dying
Two new males attached themselves to the Selinda pride, though none of the cubs they sired survived. Then two of the four lionesses were injured when they tackled a lone buffalo, and the one most seriously hurt died four weeks later. Territorial battles with other lions soon saw the demise of the males, but some lionesses rejoined the group, so its strength was five when yet another coalition of males came on the scene in 2005
In these pictures, two of the new males are seen mating with two of the lionesses. We saw these pairs mate as frequently as every eight minutes over a period of three or four days
The signs of some stability returning coincided with a time of plenty, as water creeping up the Selinda spillway attracted much game. In a single hunt, the lionesses take a red lechwe and a waterbuck. Birds scatter as three lionesses chase the lechwe on the fringe of the reedbeds and a single lioness pursues the waterbuck
While two lionesses were being courted, three others were taking a roan antelope on the edge of the spillway...and having their kill stolen by another male. They repeatedly tried to feed, but he was not willing to share the kill, even after eating his fill...so after consoling each other, the lionesses left him with the carcass and killed their own meal, a buffalo, not far away
The lion stayed with the carcass for many hours, his full stomach quelling any interest he might otherwise have shown in the continuing life of the spillway. Elephants and other animals as usual came to drink, often in his full view, and a passing pack of wild dogs detected him and interrupted their hunt for some minutes before moving on
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The dominance of this coalition was short-lived, too, and the fortunes of the Selinda pride have remained at a low ebb in the seasons since
NEXT PAGE- Selinda's other major predators: Spots 'n' Blotches
Equipment used at Selinda:
Canon EOS1n and EOS5, with Canon 300/2.8 and 400/2.8 lens and extenders, 100-400 IS zoom lens, Canon 540 EZ and 580 EX flash; Fuji Sensia 100,
Velvia (50 & 100 ISO), Provia 100F and 400F, and Agfa RSX II 200. Yvonne used a Canon EOS 1D Mark II with 100-400 IS lensThe Maplink on the left will show you where Selinda is. Go to the links below for more photographs from Africa and from Australia
