The Lion King III: Hidden Prophecy Part II

6

It was the middle of the day in the heart of the open remote grasslands of Tsavo National Park, Kenya. This was another wildlife reserve that stretched over a hundred miles in diameter not too far from the east coast of Kenya; and was home to many different types of African animals; including cheetahs, gazelles, antelope, springboks, zebras, and lions. The reserve did not, however, contain signs of giraffes, hippos, wildebeest or elephants. This could have been due to possible migration or lack of resources, but there were always uncertainties as to the actual causes.

There were a few clouds about in the sky but they were not enough to block out the sun for the entire day. There would be no signs of rainfall with the hot sun beating down on the savannah. This national park was almost right on the equator, so the tropical temperature always brought scorching heat, humidity and heavy rainfall. Even in winter time the heat would remain constant, averaging between 75-85 degrees Fahrenheit. It would not bother the animals of Africa, though, as they evolved with the heat and were able to adapt with all necessary survival mechanisms.

On this fairly hot day in the south west of the reserve, many animals were scattering around the landscape, either socializing with their fellow kind or eating and drinking; but not quite aware of a certain stalking presence lurking near them in the high grass in the savannah. Several lionesses were hiding in the grass and attempting to be quiet by any means possible so as not to scare off their prey. There were six altogether, and they were all in the same spot in crouching positions, using all the necessary techniques that they knew about hunting. They sank low and watched several antelope about a hundred metres in front of them grazing in the open grass; who the antelope were completely unaware of what was around them; and started their hunting plan.

“Okay, we have them in our sights.” The lead lioness said to the others. “Now, remember; you all know the techniques that you have been taught to hunt. Remember to feel the earth beneath you so that it does not shift and make noise and you must lower your breathing, otherwise the prey will hear you. Plus, try and not make that ‘hup’ sound just as you jump. Keep it low or else the prey will know that you are there. Got it?”

The other lionesses nodded quietly.

“Okay, now we move to phase two: We must all spread separately to different hiding spots around the prey so that we can attack them from all different directions. This will ensure that we have them cornered and they cannot escape the ‘Cage of Death’; if you will; that we have created. If we all just attack them from one direction at once, they will have space to run away.”

All lionesses listened carefully to every instruction, and all put on very serious thinking faces to remember the detail of the plan. Finally, after giving looks of affirmation to the lead lioness, they all immediately spread quietly to their attacking locations. They had to give themselves some distance as well as keep quiet; because if they were too close to the prey when they snuck around, even if they were quiet enough the prey would still be able to notice just the slight snap in the grass and sense danger.

The lionesses continued quietly through the grass, being careful not to step on any twigs or push rocks so as to make noise. Finally, in a fifty metre radius around the prey, they were ready to make their move. They had two lionesses on the south side of the radius, another two on the north side, and one each on the east and west. The antelope did not seem to notice anything the whole time that the lionesses were moving as they continued to graze; and the lead lioness on the south side knew that the time was right to strike. She gave the strike signal to the others by slightly lifting her paw high enough for the others to see, and they all immediately charged out and towards the antelope. The antelope heard the running steps of paws and turned to see all six lionesses charging towards them. They tried quickly to escape in a diagonal direction through the ‘Cage of Death’, but the lionesses were too quick and the two from the north side spear-tackled one antelope on it side. That knocked the antelope straight onto the ground, almost out like a light. It had been winded from the impact of the tackle and could barely attempt to get up, but that would be stopped short by another attack right on the back of its neck by a lioness. The lioness squeezed its jaws very hard on its neck to make it suffocate, and the antelope could barely move as it held on very tight. Two other lionesses came up and held it down as the other one held its jaws tight. Finally, the antelope stopped moving through almost a minute of the struggle; it had been killed. The attacking lioness released her hold and looked at the corpse, with blood smeared around her mouth and dripping from her sharp teeth.

“Very nice job, Mwezi.” One of the two lioness, called Allia, said to her as they got off the antelope’s body. They were quite impressed by Mwezi’s hunting ability. “You got it down in three minutes flat.”

“Thanks, but it wasn’t all me,” Mwezi replied, quite flattered by the gesture. “I had some help from Sashi. She helped me spear-tackle it.” She gestured to the one who did not make the comment, and Sashi just smiled and nodded at her.

“Yeah, but you made the kill; very fast.” Sashi remarked. “Not many of us have done that. Your hunting skills have definitely improved faster than most of us. How did you learn so much?”

“Kufuzu taught me a few little tricks.” Mwezi replied. “He told me that a good strategy is not to go directly for the throat or snout because there is a chance that you will completely miss and that will give the prey time to get away. He said that you have to get it down with a tackle, a swipe to its body or anything useful to weaken it; and once you have got it down, then you go for the fatal parts. Very simple but effective strategy, if you ask me.”

“Yes, very much so. Well done, Mwezi.” Allia said, still inspired. She then heard steps behind her. She turned around and saw the other three lionesses carrying another corpse. They had also managed to kill another antelope by attacking its body to weaken it and then bite the snout to kill it quickly.

As the other three dropped the corpse, the lead lioness; called Tanya; came over to Mwezi, Sashi, and Allia. She was also impressed by their killing job as they told her about Mwezi’s kill.

“Okay, good job everyone.” Tanya said to them all, “We now have enough for the entire pride to last us for a couple of days at least. Let’s take the kill back to the pride and begin the midday feast.”

With that said, Mwezi, Sashi and Allia dragged their kill; and Tanya, Fikira, and Kamili dragged their kill back to where their pride’s den was located.

7

Several miles west of the reserve laid a fairly large rock cave that was shaped like a dome. This cave stood around 3 metres high and 25 metres squared, and it was big enough to fit a large pride of lions in as a means of shelter. The cave consisted of very ancient volcanic rock, which may have evolved due to volcanic activity somewhere around the Mesozoic age.

Around the cave lay a pride of around 8 lions; all lionesses. They had been allowed to rest and sleep while the other 6 lionesses took their turn in hunting for the day. They all preferred to sleep in the sun on this particular day because there had been rain the previous day and it made the day seem colder than usual. Therefore they wanted to expose themselves to the warm weather so as to make up for the previous day’s coolness. They were all used to the heat and the sunlight in this particular climate.

Meanwhile, inside the den, two male lions lay inside sleeping. One was slightly larger than the other. He had an impressive build with bright golden skin, a large golden mane and hazel eyes. The other was only slightly smaller with dark skin, a long mane and blue eyes. They kept a small distance from each other with the dark lion sleeping almost directly next to the den walls on the east side; and the golden lion sleeping near the south side of the den.

Suddenly a lioness walked into the den and slowly towards the sleeping lions; but she didn’t have to do anything before the dark lion slowly awoke at the sound of her paws hitting the ground. The golden lion, however, did not wake up. The dark lion sleepily groaned and stretched for a minute before looking at the lioness in the eyes. She jumped in surprise at the sudden awake, but she quickly stood her ground to deliver her message.

“I’m sorry to wake you, Kufuzu.” The lioness remarked.

“No, it’s alright, Nabila.” Kufuzu replied, yawning; with a slightly quiet voice so as not to wake up the golden lion; “What do you have to report?”

“Mwezi and the other lionesses have informed me that they have made two antelope kills and they have just brought the carcasses here. They also say that this amount of food will be enough to last us for a few days.”

“Excellent news, Nabila.” Kufuzu replied with a satisfying tone in his voice and a small smile on his face, “Please tell Mwezi and the others to leave the kill outside the den so that everyone can start eating. Hekima and I will come out in just a moment.”

“Yes, sir.”

And with that,