Vegans Love Carnivores

Had a very stressful time over the last few days here at ALERT.   Two of Phyre’s cubs are missing, presumed dead, with only one remaining that we cannot locate.   Kenge has probably given birth now too but we have no idea where she is, how many cubs she has, and how many may also have possibly gone the same was as Phyre’s.   Athena, the lioness with the eight month-old, has been seen with three baby cubs (not hers), nursing them, carrying them around and letting Wakanaka her cub play with them.   However, this means that the fragile little things are away from their mother and not being cared for properly, so their survival is very much compromised.   We tried to move Athena and Wakanaka into a management enclosure yesterday to give the new mothers time to sort themselves out, but herding lions is about 100 times harder than herding cats, and this ended up being an epic fail on all accounts.   The lions were stressed, we were stressed; it was not a good day...

The rainy season has arrived!   Had quite a few intense thunderstorms since being here, which has been quite spectacular to see, especially as it has been months since it has rained properly here.   The area really needed some moisture as there were quite a number of fires starting in the park that became quite a scare to us.   Fortunately all were kept under control, but there is always that worry that maybe they won’t be able to put it out. Had some very exciting news recently as one of the pregnant female lionesses went off to den a few days ago and has recently given birth!   We accidentally stumbled across the den complete with mother, three cubs and two other lionesses waiting diligently by her side.   The cubs looked very healthy and were suckling when we saw them, which was very cute to see.   Phyre, the mother, looked proud but tired so we left her after just a few moments as we didn’t want to intrude or scare her. A giraffe died in the park rece...