The Last Lions Page #3

stirred to panic.

There are a thousand reasons

to enjoy the dawn,

especially after

a successful hunt.

There is only one reason

that she quickens her pace.

Her calls

are not being answered.

Every time she leaves

them alone they wander off.

The little male has been

going farther and farther,

but both always return

to the same spot.

But not today.

Although there is

a strong scent of buffalo,

there is no sign of the pride,

so she carefully follows

the cubs' trail

away from the hiding place

and out into the open.

A call!

It's the female cub,

way across the open terrain

in the distance,

clearly upset, but alive!

Ma di Tau the protector

has not failed completely;

she has found one of the cubs.

Her kill has brought

a loyal following of scavengers,

and they can sense

some weakness about her.

With no sign of the little male,

she'll defend her last cub

against the mob of hyenas

at all costs.

In this final hopeless moment

she seems to understand the

risks of following the buffalo,

and what happened

here last night.

She hesitates

just long enough to give hope...

But she can't mend

a broken back.

No amount of care, licking,

defending, will fix this.

When she steps away, finally,

Ma di Tau

leaves behind her legacy -

the last

of her male's bloodline,

and her name.

She is Ma di Tau,

mother and protector

of lions, no more.

We don't know

about animal grief,

or even the effect

of any broken heart.

But something happens

to the lone lioness

when the storm of emotion

brews up in her eyes

and she leaves her cub behind

for the last time.

When she roars,

she calls to no one.

Her voice just adds

to the turbulent day.

On this day when

she has lost everything,

she seems to draw

on a deeply held instinct

and transforms herself

once again into a lone huntress.

For a single lioness

to run directly

into the buffalo

is virtually unheard of.

To take on the largest male

in that herd -

a fit, fighting bull -

is almost suicide.

Too much for her.

Too much hardship for one day.

Is it a lament to the gods?

A cry for help?

Or a last

battlecry of frustration?

The pride again...

Their arrival is always

sparked by any disturbance.

But this time

she will not retreat.

And now the past

strengthens her.

The submission

extracted from Silver Eye

is enough for the lone lioness.

She has something left to do.

And in this moment of strength

something fundamental changes -

something the pride recognizes.

They sense it in

the determination in her step

and the look in her eye...

Something unseen...

She is transformed

into a leader.

It's more than Silver Eye

can do to follow her old enemy,

especially across water,

especially as

a lower ranking huntress.

Lions hunt with coordination,

and when the stakes are high

they depend on

being well rehearsed.

Now, hunting together

for the first time,

every instinct drives them

to find that rhythm.

All they can rely on

is the leadership of a lioness

who has never led before.

When she makes her move,

it is clinical and precise.

But the bull has led this herd

for ten years or longer.

He has won the herd's

allegiance with blood.

They won't abandon him now.

She is used to standing alone.

Suddenly the scales tip

in the bull's favor.

The loyal horde fights back,

winning the advantage and

forcing the lions into disarray,

destroying their confidence

and scattering them to the wind.

With her pride divided and weak,

she can't push forward again.

They're exhausted.

But something beyond the buffalo

catches her eye,

a disturbance in the herd.

A lion cub...

Her lion cub.

Her reaction is a violent

explosion of motherhood

that drives the buffalo back,

away from her defenseless cub.

At last, she has hope.

She might still be able

to fulfill that ambition

to raise at least one cub.

A mother who has lost

and then found her offspring

must be overwhelmed

with emotions.

The lone lioness

has her name again...

Ma di Tau, the huntress,

has purpose once more.

The transition

from fierce tormentor

to compassionate mother

attracts the buffalos' interest.

A slow, determined

march of aggression.

And then, out of nowhere,

a lioness arrives.

The light in this

lioness' one eye

should still stir terror

in Ma di Tau.

But it doesn't.

The two lionesses

share a look that in an instant

sends a message

in some silent language.

With a wall of buffalo ahead

and a vulnerable cub behind,

somehow Silver Eye conveys

that she is not here

to take advantage;

she is here to help.

There are moments

before every conflict

when the fighters

have a choice:

to back away

and let the moment pass,

or to unite and step forward

behind their leader into battle.

Silver Eye knows

what she must do.

She must follow

Ma di Tau's lead.

And in this moment

a pride of lions is born.

And now they

seem to understand

that their future will be

determined right here,

as a pride.

With just one less of them,

the scales would tip

in favor of the big bulls

and shatter their hopes...

And the future of this

new pride's one remaining cub.

It is now or never.

Ma di Tau splits the herd

and routes the front rank.

She seems to understand

that behind her

Silver Eye will lead the attack.

It's a moment of trust...

The trust is well placed.

And it is over.

It is his first experience

of seeing lions

do what they do best.

It's his introduction into

a world of hunting and killing,

a necessary part of his legacy.

With the bull destroyed,

Ma di Tau has created

a safer world for her cub.

She has unified

a hunting coalition.

But one last thing

remains to be done.

To raise her cub successfully,

she needs to accept

this pride as her own.

When she and Silver Eye

finally make peace,

they mend themselves

and bind their pride,

their future, together.

And will this unlikely survivor,

a straggler with

the heart of a lion,

be one of the last?

Will he get to grow a mane

and strengthen

through adolescence?

Will he have a chance

to wear the battle scars

of a mature male,

each one a badge of honor

that started here today.

Will he be one of

the last wild lions on Earth?

Will he wander alone in the

last of these wild places,

as our world fills up

with lights, clutter,

noise and people?

In 15 years there will be

How long these last

will depend entirely on us.

We are losing cats

at an alarming rate.

It's time for an

emergency effort by all of us.

At this rate,

these beautiful animals

are heading for extinction.

Can you imagine our world

without any of

these iconic animals?

It's not too late.

We can take action now.

We all have the power

to turn it around.

To find out more go to

CauseAnUproar. org

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