Living Near Lions
In
southern African countries—such as Zimbabwe, where
I live—many people live close to wild animals. Different
animals cause different problems to people.
Buffaloes, impalas, and other plant eaters can eat up people’s
food crops. But lions sometimes kill people and their livestock.
The village where I grew up, Chikombedzi, is close to the Gonarezhou National Park. This preserve is home to zebras and giraffes as well as antelopes such as wildebeests.
Wherever you find these animals, lions will always hang around. So there were also many lions in and around Gonarezhou. They sometimes left the park in search of food.
One day a man in my village—armed with only a spear—fought with a lion to protect his cattle. The lion left hungry, but the man was nearly killed.
Surprised
by Lions
Lionesses and their cubs live in groups known as prides,
and males live alone or together in small groups. So we
knew we might see them in groups or alone.
But the thick grass and the bushes provided a good cover
for the lions. Sometimes people would not be aware that
a lion was nearby until it was already too close for them
to get away.
People
were so afraid of lions that they often walked in groups.
In some remote villages, adults took turns escorting their
children to school. In fact, my friends and I sometimes
missed school because lions had been seen outside of the
park.
One hot afternoon, my uncle, two of my friends, and I came
frighteningly close to a wandering male lion. We were gathering
wood to use as stakes to support tomato plants.
Just like the arrival of any other king, the lion’s approach was signaled in style. Wild impalas and kudus usually stayed away from people. But suddenly several of them bolted into the village. Apparently they had smelled or heard the lion but did not know where it was. In their panic, they ran back and forth through the village before finally crashing away through the brush.
Baboons also signaled the lion’s arrival. As usual, the baboons were hanging around the village, fighting among themselves and trying to steal food from villagers. Suddenly they scrambled up the trees. They climbed up and down again and again, screaming their warning calls.
Our two dogs, Isa and Bingo, tucked their tails between their legs and dared not move even an inch from us.
Brave
Uncle Tendai
When the lion stepped out of the brush, the only person
who stood his ground was my Uncle Tendai. He calmly helped
my two friends and me to climb up a nearby tree. We were
so frightened that our shivering shook the tree.
The lion was about thirty feet away, and I could see him clearly. He looked old, as the bottom part of his mane was turning whitish. He made an unconcerned gaze at our tree and at Uncle Tendai. The lion stood still for about a minute, and then leisurely moved away.
Lazy
Lions
From the mountaintops, my friends and I sometimes saw lions
lazily sleeping in the shade of baobab or msasa trees in
the plains. They did not seem to care about us at all, and
they would just carry on with their sleeping.
Lion
attacks in the villages are actually rare. Only in times
of serious drought do lions become a problem as they turn
to the villages to attack livestock like cattle and goats.
In
fact, people are a greater threat to lions than lions are
to people. Some lions are shot by poachers, and lions everywhere
are losing their habitat to humans.
Near my village, lions can be seen all over the plains.
But the total number of wild lions in Africa is going down.
They are listed as vulnerable to extinction, but not endangered.
Instead of trying to kill the lions, we villagers install scare-crows that hold gun-like sticks near the animal pens, which we call kraals. This helps frighten these giant cats.
Some people regard lions as sacred animals. Local belief says that some of the spirits of our grandparents live in certain lions. This belief has helped in saving lions not only from the villagers but from poachers, too.
Over time, I have tried to live peacefully side by side with Africa’s famous meat eater. Sometimes these large carnivores seem to be greedy man-eating beasts. But in fact, they kill only for food. Lucky enough, people are not among their favorite choices.
For
those of us who live close to them, lions are potentially
dangerous neighbors. But if we respect them, we don’t
need to fear them.
