Lion Kill

Seconds after the POUNCE

(Andrew) Adrenaline pumped through my veins hearing the baboons’ alarm calls followed by zebras’. Many predators were the suspects of the crime; lions, a leopard and the rare chance of wild dogs. A lion was guilty of the noise. A single, solitary, hungry lioness was sulking around failing to catch prey. She had a big, raw wound on her backside. Her bloody gash made her pride kick her out until it healed. She was hunting alone, so she didn’t have much luck, her skinny powerful body looked even frail in her tired condition. Her small feline ears were darting around like scared fish. Her appearance looked grim and melancholy. While inside the car, I felt: surprised, joyful, and scared out of my mind. All of my senses were overwhelmed; I could smell the cool forest air, see a hungry lioness,leaves crunching and baboons barking, taste the dampness in the air and feel the emotions of the hungry, hurting, depressed, desperate lioness. The tension in the air was throbbing against my flesh. God must have pitied this killing machine because there was a snap and a female baboon and her kid fell out of a Mopane tree. I could feel the excitement level skyrocket. The lion did what all cats do best, POUNCE. Boy did that cat pounce. The baboon sucked in her complete terror and leapt into the nearest tree, a thorn tree. It all happened so quickly, the lioness’s cat-like reflexes acted up and she launched into the Camel Thorn Acacia. Hearing the surprised and painful cry of the baboon, I knew the train of her life had come to an end. The primate’s frantic pleas sent a pang of sadness through me. The lioness clamped on the unlucky baboon until it was still. A mournful silence crept into the air. I felt happy for the lioness but extremely bad for the now dead baboon. The lioness then dragged the corpse over to a thicket and began to chow down. Soon enough her face was soaked in baboon blood. We left the site after witnessing a lion kill.

We were so lucky.

The baboon wasn’t.