This might just be your last walk,” the guide joked as many white faced tourists let out a feeble laugh (Probably praying it was all in good humour). Our lion walk at the Lion Encounter, a sister concern of the Antelope Park at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe had begun. Walking across the Savannah grasslands with the funny Zimbabwean guide David was a lesson into the wild. The Zimbabwe humour kept us in good spirits, even as the beasts winked open an eye from siesta, deciding, we were not meaty enough, thankfully. The lions are probably the most lazy animals you will find! “Sometime wilderbeast walk upto the lion and the king of the jungle, without batting an eyelid, goes back to sleep, completely uninterested. They sleep for over 16 hours a day… and hunt every three to four days,” he informed.
We were asked not to wear bright colours and to use closed shoes incase the large cat decided to romp on small hors d’oeuvres! Always walk behind the lion, and brandish the stick, which was more for our comfort, not so much a weapon.
The Walk with the Lions was as inspiring as it was overwhelming, seeing the little cubs and the big cats saunter past in their magnifcence. Lion Encoun-ter is an active conservation programme. The species has seen an 80-90 per cent decline in the past 20-30 years. And it is their claim that they release these animals into the wild. As we trudged across the bush, our first stop was the cubs — where two female cubs were basking in the sun. Savannah and Shingala were five months old and will be under care for 18 months till they are sent into the wild — playful, feisty and quite lazy, they lolled, while one took at snapping at us, the other seemed a bit dopey. Touching the cubs, apprehensively, on their furry behind, gently but firmly was thrilling, though we were all ready to leap away for dear life. Gingerly, a few went forth, some scared out of their wits. The little beasts, were of course not thrilled at visitors.
And then we waited in the harsh sun for the big cats. And they came, walking regally, head in the air, with a grace and beauty that left us speechless. The two were three years old and seemed to have done their bit of walking with another group, before being edged towards us. The kings of the jungle had their own entourage of guides with rifles. The lions seemed to heave and sigh and then settled under a tree for yet another siesta. We stroked them, even more gingerly. They seemed used to humans. We were of course, snapshot happy! We even went for a walk with the lions, who seemed to be on a very speedy agenda, as they walked, into the bush. Stopping for a breath, they then disappeared into their habitat. Wild animals need to be protected and live free. While this programme and others claim to reintroduce offspring of captive-bred African lions back into the wild, there are many contrary reports of it being more of a captive environment and that the animals are drugged. Meeting the King of the Jungle was a memorable experience, we hope it was one within the norms of conservation too.
Hunting ground
The guide at Crocodile Park informed us that hunting is legal in Zimbabwe and even today, ivory is being sold to Americans, Italians, Spanish, etc. That might be the reason we saw fewer wild beasts. “A registered trader of animals and a registed hunter are prerequisites. Hunting with licences for professional hunters are a must and one can buy permit from the national park authority. If you want to hunt elephants, it costs $17,000, if you want to hunt lions, it costs $7,000 and the licence is valid of three years. Many people come to hunt with estimates of atleast 5,000 people per year.
The writer was on a FAM trip organised by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority to Zimbabwe.
