18/12/2024
This story is about ‘Mothlokomedi’ which means ‘the protector’ in .
Mothlokomedi is a courageous, dignified & resilient lioness struggling to keep 8 young cubs alive in the heart of the Mababe depression.
All 8 aren’t born to her, 1 is born to her daughter, 3 to her sister & 4 are her own.
Her sister & her daughter have been missing since 3 months, I saw Mothlokomedi on the 21st Nov’24.
Staying alive in the dry & arid Mababe depression in the scorching heat of November summer of southern Africa, is a grave challenge.
There is enough prey, but hunting is strategic teamwork, Mothlokomedi is not very young, she gets tired and the cubs are yet too young to assist her in hunting.
The Lion is around, but isn’t of much help, rather at times he takes away HIS share from whatever she has managed to kill.
We found her around 1730hrs that evening & followed her until she called out to the cubs to come out from their safe hiding place, yes hiding place…because they are yet very vulnerable and easy prey to the other lurking predators including raptors.
She covered over 20-25 kilometers within those 2 hours, looking for the cubs and leading them to somewhere, where hopefully she had food for them….
The sun had begun to set on the Mababe depression so we weren’t able to track them anymore….as we headed back to camp to retire for the evening, my thoughts were no where else but with Mothlokomedi and her 8 young ones. What might have unfolded during the night…would they have fed enough to stay alive another day??
It had been a long day, so I did drift off to sleep, knowing fully well, that I would not need the alarm to wake me up the next morning, I would be up regardless, as my mind was already in the safari vehicle, my eyes searching for The Protector….
