It’s quite unusual to hear protracted calls from lion in the middle of the afternoon. But it had been raining heavily and we suspected that the – normally – sleeping lions had been roused by the downpour and were calling to find each other. These contact calls are usually less intense and shorter than the males’ full territorial calls.
We couldn’t find the lions that we’d heard calling but we saw footprints heading across a flooded sand river. We drove around (we have to use the bridge at this time of year!) and spotted a lone female calling repeatedly in an open plain we called Lupunga (after the grass type which is dominant there).
She never came close to us, but just repeatedly called and waited for a response. Nothing was forthcoming which confused us.
Only the elephants appeared to be listening!
