Living with lions

BAME PIET
Staff Writer | Monday March 12, 2012 00:00

 

Those who have had a close encounter with the animal, say that it is difficult to believe that it poses no danger to one's life even when it is dead. Last Monday I had a date with the real wild tshetlha, up close and dangerous.

First I had to travel to Kasane by bus, a feat far from child's play. It is even worse at night. Along the way we were constantly informed that there are plenty of lions along the Nata-Pandamatenga-Kasane road.

Among the passengers were construction workers engaged in the Pandamatenga-Nata road. We had to wait a few minutes to drop them off and wait for them to run to their temporary metal shelter. The bus crew said it was possible for the poor men to find a 'guest' on their doorstep, so we had to endure the precautionary wait so that if they find the uninvited guest, they can run back to the bus.

Upon arrival in Kasane the following morning, we drove to Panda.At a certain Mr Kruger's farm we were met by a man armed with a rifle. We heard that lions had killed two cattle here. One of the two was a calf.'They were in this yard this morning. We have called wildlife officers and set a trap with the calf inside,' he said.

The trap is a cage covered with branches. It has an opening for lions to enter. Once inside, the beast will step on a component that will then release the lid and close it inside. Once inside, the animal is trapped further with another door then given an injection and later transported back to the park. They said that at night their dogs are locked inside the house for lions can visit unannounced and wipe off the entire dog-pound. Around 4pm the men suggested that we walk to the cage. I was the first to protest.

How can you walk for over 400 metres looking for a lion whose whereabouts you do not know of? We drove to the site of the trap. It was farther than I thought.

They covered the cage with branches, constantly reminding us that the lion was not far away, and that it could probably be watching us.

I felt an electric shock running down my spine. I made sure that the distance between myself and the open door of our vehicle was the shortest possible, just in case there was an emergency. 'This animal never attacks humans. It can scare you by charging at you, braking right at your feet before retreating.

Once it does that you have to stand still,' one of the men advised. The team was confident that come the next morning the lion would have fallen into the trap. We insisted that we should come and witness the rage of a caged lion. 'But you are going to need extra clothes,' one of the men jokingly said. He said that it was a scary sight.

On our way back I enquired if a lion can break into a vehicle and the answer was in the affirmative. 'But once inside the car it focuses on getting out. Probably by then you would have messed the car,' our guide said. The following day we arrived at Kruger's compound and he was disappointed he could not catch the lion. Apparently the suspicious cat moved the branches aside, and closed the trapdoor of the cage in the process. 'I went there at 2am and 5am but there was nothing. I have covered the cage again,' he said.

I could not believe the ease with which he spoke. Going to check on a lion, alone, at 5am in the morning? 'But it will come,' he said confidently. They had many lion tales to tell. We heard how a lion decapitated a farmer's dog with the speed of lightning with the open van in motion. The frustrated farmer got out of the vehicle wielding an axe, chasing after the lion. The craziest story I heard was that a lion is a very shy animal that would never attack a person unprovoked. I'm still not convinced.