![]() That's because there is an abundance of buffalo and other animals to prey upon, and the fact that the animals often walk through water in the delta's many streams, building up their muscles, he said. And these Okavango lions are probably the largest lions on the planet. ![]() Only physically strong, intelligent and fit males survive to become adults in charge of a pride, Dereck said. He eventually sought treatment at a South African hospital, he said.įilmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert, in their natural habitat, in Duba Plains camp, Botswana. The bite occurred days before a visit from the television program "60 Minutes" - but instead of canceling, Dereck went through with the interview. Dereck nonchalantly points to the scar left by the bite, saying that he still lacks feeling in the area. They have survived several plane crashes, being charged by a wounded elephant and, most recently, Dereck was bitten by a boomslang, one of the more deadly snakes in Africa. The Jouberts have had their fair share of close calls, and Beverly has saved Dereck's life many times (according to Dereck). Female lions also will not be receptive to mating while they are nursing, so killing the cubs enables the male lions to procreate, said Beverly. "They can't be stepfathers," Hunter told LiveScience. When male lions take over a new territory, they almost always kill the prides' cubs, since they are not biologically related and do not want to spend energy ensuring that other lions' genes will be passed on. They usually do this as a coalition, often consisting of three or four "big, bruising males," Hunter said. But of course resident males will have none of that, and so they end up fighting, often to the death, Dereck said. If they survive long enough to find a promising new area, the next step is to take over another pride. This odyssey also puts them into contact with humans, due to expansion of rural populations, Cozzi said in an email, increasing the chances they will be killed in a wire snare trap (a non-selective, widespread method of catching African game). A majority of male lions die during this time, said Gabriele Cozzi, a researcher at Zurich University who wasn't involved in the film. If they stray into these territories, they are likely to be attacked and/or killed. ![]() (Image credit: Beverly and Dereck Joubert / National Geographic)Īfter being kicked out, the young males roam the countryside solo or in small bands, often with their brothers or cousins, negotiating the no-cat's-land between territories of other lions, said Luke Hunter, the president of the big cat conservation group Panthera, in a phone interview. A young cub in the Okavango Delta, Botswana.
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