Photo by Keith Begg
I am visiting the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique to better understand how the Houston Zoo can assist with the conservation of lions in the park.
You may have seen on our website a photo of 3 lion cubs peeking out above a rock ledge. Those are Akomwana’s cubs, born around May-June of 2011. Earlier this week, we met a lion, James: either he or his brother, Jabru, is the father to these cubs.
Today, we headed back to the large Inselberg to get a signal to find Akomwana and the cubs, as they had not been seen since the researchers left during the wet season in December. Niassa Lion Project (NLP) staff member Xavier went scurrying up the hill like a sure-footed mountain goat while we waited below, and in no time at all he was back down with a direction for where to find this female.
Driving though the bush is never easy, as there are very few trails and the grass is 6-8 feet tall in places, though we did manage to wake up a nocturnal civet taking a nap in the shade! 30 minutes later, we found ourselves on the edge of a dry, sandy riverbed. Directly across sat Akomwana. After a few minutes of watching her, we see an ear twitching in the grass: it is one of the cubs. While mom was seemingly ignoring us, she came down into the shade of the sandy riverbed to lie down, and one of her cubs followed. It was great to see how well Akomwana looked. The cub was active and playful, but it was also sad to know only one of three cubs survived. Every positive moment is balanced out here as NLP tries to find solutions to strengthen the lion population.
This cubs name is Akeelha, as named by the Velasquez Elementary school of Richmond, Texas. They parnter with the Zoo in supporting the Niassa Lion Project. They hold fundraising events every holiday season to raise funds for lion conservation.
Akeelha and Akomwana spent 45 minutes in the riverbed. Akeelha stared at us to try and figure out what we were, and her mom napped on and off. This was, of course, until the cub became bored and pounced on her mom. Now awake, they turned and climbed up the bank. The adult female disappeared in the grass, but Akheela stayed a few moments more to watch us before heading off after her mom.
Keep coming back to hear more about my experience with the lions of Mozambique.
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