Night Encounter Part 1- Hunting with lions

7:30 pm. When the lions are retired from walking at about eighteen months they soon enter the night encounter program. Their skills developed during the walks are fully tested as they were allowed to hunt the game in the reserve. Sahara, Soraya, Swahili were hunting that evening. These lions were mature enough to make a kill and they didn't eat if they were unsuccessful; their previous night's hunt had seen several chases over a couple hours, but no kill. However, these lions had a proven record with seventy-seven successful hunts.

Despite the bright full moon, it was incredibly black in the bush and the lions soon disappeared ahead of the lead vehicle. I had doubts that I even wanted to see a successful hunt; I normally change the channel when the animals start killing each other on the Discovery Channel. If there was going to be a kill this night, I was hoping for a quick one. Twenty-six minutes into the hunt the lead truck was almost airborne as it left the path and went speeding through the bush. The lions had successfully hunted an adult wildebeest. Witnessing the wildebeest death was just as uncomfortable as I imagined but it was raw nature and a moment to respect.

The plan: after a decent amount of time to enjoy their kill, the other truck would scare the lions away, the wildebeest would be loaded in our vehicle and returned to the enclosure to be finished. It would have been impossible to get the lions back to their enclosure if allowed to feed until they are full. The problem was our vehicle was dead.....

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