The Last Lions Page #2

about this new presence.

She will have to

test them for weaknesses

and she must look beyond

the strong outer wall

of their heavy armaments.

In time she must become expert

at finding those weak points...

small, hidden chinks

in the armor

that will stumble

out into view

and excite her instincts

as a huntress.

Night is an advantage for her.

She can hide in the shadows

of a crescent moon

and let her eyes brighten

to take in her quarry.

Now she has to become invisible.

It is what

a solitary hunter does best.

The damp grass helps her perform

like a silent ghost,

flitting in and out of reality.

Two mothers now battle

for the survival of their young:

buffalo desperate

to deflect an attack;

lioness eager to double back

and strike quick, fatal blows

to earn a meal for her cubs.

It's the eternal dance

of Africa.

The young lions

will go hungry a little longer.

When the buffalo calf escapes,

it carries a chilling message

of a near-miss written in blood

back to the scar-faced bull.

It's a race against time.

The cubs are demanding

more from Ma di Tau

as they grow

and her milk dries up.

The small male

doesn't seem to want to compete.

But while he bonds

with his mother,

his sister grows

stronger all the time.

Her cubs survival

is a hard taskmaster for her,

and despite the searing

heat and humidity,

she forces herself up again,

back onto the path

of the buffalo.

She seems to understand

that the herd will provide,

if she can just

crack that code.

She has a fresh tactic in mind.

Having taken up her position,

she tries something

very sophisticated...

a full on, out in the open,

rather desperate charge.

It panics the herd.

A lion hunt

is as much a mind game

as it is a physical

explosion of violence.

What she doesn't know is that

the commotion of the hunt

has drawn interest

from across the river...

Silver Eye.

Only a thin strip

of water divides them

at this point in the river.

The intensity keeps

Ma di Tau focused -

perhaps too focused.

The night hides many

a bold and sinister thing.

Signs of change often come

in the slight shift

of grass in the breeze,

or a hint of a scent that brings

disturbing news to Ma di Tau.

She and her cubs once again

stand directly in the path

of an aggressive, half-blind

lioness and her followers.

Ma di Tau's hostile warning

buys her time

against these huge lions,

who present a united force

though lack the confidence

of her local knowledge.

The cubs understand

her body language;

they know what to do.

This territory

is her last option.

There is nowhere else

for her to go.

If she flees from the island,

she'll immediately

have to face

the males

patrolling the far bank.

And if she were to avoid them,

at the horizon there are people,

villages, guns.

The river is her defense

and her confinement...

Her last stand.

This island lives and breathes

by a different set of rules

to the rest of Africa.

The pride has some

lessons to learn

before they can

call it their own.

The first is that

it's a mistake

to sleep too deeply

on Duba island,

especially when

a scar-faced bull

has smelled the spilled blood

of his young.

Ma di Tau hears

the buffalo attack.

She pictures the chaos

from bitter experience.

One sound -

the crash of water

as the buffalo retreat -

takes on a new

significance to her.

Water!

Each crystal clear splash

clarifies an idea:

buffalo flee to water to escape.

They use it as

a protective barrier

between themselves

and the lions.

And yet, they still panic,

bunch together

and make mistakes.

If she can make

water her strength,

it will be their weakness.

Silver Eye has noticed

the silent hunter on the move...

and what she has

left behind in the grass.

The casual awakening

is deceptive.

She is giving

the huntress time to leave,

enough time to get

involved in the hunt.

Something bothers Ma di Tau

for a moment, some instinct.

But there seems nothing amiss.

Beaten, or just deterred

for the time being?

It's a question

that would haunt

any mother

with vulnerable young,

driven by

conflicting imperatives -

to hunt and feed her young,

or to stay and protect them?

With the pride

safely in retreat,

the young male cub

turns his attention

to a much greater challenge...

like being king of the hill.

Even just for a moment.

For a young lion,

being lord of all you survey

is almost your birthright.

If only one's sister

would accept it.

Winning the high ground

is something to fight hard for,

but then when one's opponent

unexpectedly gives up,

then the triumph of victory

feels a little hollow.

With each day

she hesitates or fails,

her cubs

get closer to starving.

The disturbance

is another indication

of the sheer power

of the scar-faced bull

and the aggression

of all buffalo.

And then she seems to see

the solution to her problem.

This violent fighting

will keep the pride away.

If she can move her cubs

up close to the herd

but keep them hidden,

they will be safe

from Silver Eye,

and Ma di Tau will be able

to leave them to hunt again.

As the herd moves,

she tracks them silently.

Keeping close,

the cubs follow her every move.

It's a risk.

If the buffalo hear them,

they could turn back and attack.

They're surrounded by demons.

It takes nerves of steel.

But any thoughts of

a single-handed defense

are short-lived.

By dawn she's in a position

to attempt the unknown...

a water hunt.

With the cubs nearby but safe,

it's time to concentrate

on her new tactic.

Now she has the advantage.

She has already overcome

most of her fear of water,

but the buffalo won't know that.

And they have hit

the deep channel

where they bunch together.

The angry bull pathfinders

horn each other out of the way

in the confusion.

Confusion is exactly

what she is looking for.

They don't expect her

to come out of the water;

they don't understand

that shape, that wet smell,

that calculated approach

designed to cause

stragglers to panic.

This is a chance

she can't let go -

a lone cow

isolated without help.

The distress calls

enrage the herd.

They rally

to the cow's defense.

The one thing she will not

confront is a large crocodile.

But she still has the advantage

of almost total concealment.

Her first attempt

has given her hope.

The confused herd

is just too enticing,

and the deep water

is now her speciality.

Now is her time.

Her success is celebrated...

by anyone else

who can take advantage.

Africa is as dispassionate

about great victory

as it is about loss.

It drives all to learn

and accept fate

and step forward

towards the next day.

At least Ma di Tau has eaten,

and in a few hours

she will produce milk.

And later she will go

boldly into the water

and hunt the herd again.

But that is for tomorrow;

now she is exhausted.

But that old lesson

of never sleeping soundly

is not to be ignored.

There are risks attached

to leaving the cubs

in the path of the buffalo,

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