We were recently on safari in the Maasai Mara and what a special trip it turned out to be. As we land in the Mara North Conservancy on our way to Ngare Serian our very first sighting was of two lionesses in a tree.
Tree climbing is considered to be an unusual behaviour for lions, they aren’t built for climbing trees! However it is not as rare as you may think and over recent years there have been a greater number of recordings of these amazing sightings. No one really knows why lions climb trees, according to Africa Geographic, “Some believe that lions opt to climb trees to get a better view, while others believe it is so that they can catch a bit of a cool breeze on a hot day or get away from tsetse flies and other nasties that may bite them at ground level. But perhaps they just climb trees for fun…”
It all starts when we spot these two majestic lookouts:
They jostle for space for a little while. There is not quite enough room in this one tree for both of them – make sure you turn up your sound so you can hear the snarling and growling involved:
Eventually one of them has to come down, and there is a graceful exit from the tree. Leaving just one lioness in prime position.
If you didn’t believe us when we said that lions weren’t built for tree climbing, this graceful fall out of the tree may go some way to demonstrating our point!
To find out more about this incredible species and Mara lion conservation, you can read more here from the Kenya Wildlife Trust.