Posts tagged "lioness"

You might remember that a couple of weeks ago, we ran a retrospective on sleeping cats, which required little justification given how self-evidently cute sleeping cats are. But we do feel the need to reiterate that a large part of what makes things cute is size, i.e. small equals cute. This is why our retrospective mainly featured kittens and small cats.

Now, far be it from us to suggest that Shanta the lioness here isn't cute. We would never say that, mainly because we don't want to risk offending her and catching a clawed pat to the face or a fanged maw to the jugular. But then, that's just it. If cute and terrifying can coexist, than that's what's happening right here. Because as cuddly as a sleepy lion looks strictly upon surface-level observation, our basic knowledge of the animal kingdom lets us know we wouldn't want to wake up from a nap with the queen of the jungle snoozing on top of us. Even if she licked our faces to let us know everything is copacetic, we wouldn't risk hugging her back. There are rules about these things.

There's a visceral reaction you might experience during the early moments of this video. Something primal, something instinctual. You're on the African plains, naked, in your hand a crude spear carved from a tree branch. You've been separated from your tribe and you know you're no match for a hungry lioness on your own. Fight is not an option, only flight. Your reptilian brain is firing only one message to every nerve and muscle in your body: Run.

But the rational part of your brain reminds you that it's just a YouTube video. You're safe at home and no lioness is actually approaching. Your cold sweat dries. Your legs stop shaking. And as the terrible beast's muzzle closes in on the camera lens, you're reminded of something else. You're reminded of all those mornings you wake up with your cat sitting on your chest, licking your face or just staring at you expectantly. And all of a sudden the lioness actually seems kind of cute! But don't let that fool you completely. There's still no wuzzling!

"Pamper yourself," he told me. "Take a day at the spa. Get a massage. Have a facial. Get your fur and claws done. Enjoy yourself -- you deserve it!" he said.

Nobody mentioned the mandatory mud bath involved at Le Spa Daily Squee, however. And I do not. like. getting. dirty. Do I look relaxed? Do I look happy? For our next anniversary, I'd better get some serious jewelry. Or at least those juicy gazelle treats I've had my eye on.

Does it get any cuter than a picture of furry babies from different species showing each other some love? Actually, it does. The story of how this trio of unlikely pals came together -- living at South Africa's Pumba Private Game Reserve Rehabilitation Center -- will warm your heart.

The lion cub, Sheba, was the first of the three animals to arrive at Pumba. Her mother had birthed a litter of three, but two of the newborns died, and the lioness abandoned her only surviving cub, Sheba. A call went out to the Pumba reserve, asking if they would bring Sheba into their Rehabilitation Center. Pumba's Dale Howarth wrote on the reserve's blog that they took her on the condition that the facility would adopt and rehabilitate her over 18 months with the ultimate goal of releasing her back into the wild.

Two days after Sheba came to Pumba, the reserve received a call to help another cat species. This time, two caracals (who are also referred to as desert lynx) were orphaned when a pack of hunting dogs killed their mother. The huntsman knew about Pumba's Rehabilitation Center and called to see if the reserve could help.

"This opportunity seemed to be so coincidental with getting the lioness a few days earlier, that we immediately accepted as now we would have company for the lioness and each other as they grow up," Howarth wrote. They named the caracal cubs Jack and Jill.

All three are survivors. Sheba turned 5 weeks old on April 1. She has quadrupled her weight, is walking and has opened her eyes. The caracal kittens Jack and Jill are thriving right alongside her.

Tourists who were lucky -- or unlucky -- enough to enjoy a safari-style drive through South Africa's Kruger National Park back in mid-August have some pretty stunning vacation photos to show off, thanks to a bloody "survival of the fittest" feat that occurred right outside their cars!

As reported by London's Daily Mail this week, what began as a pastoral scene -- a water buffalo grazing in the wilderness about 10 meters off the road -- quickly escalated into a full-on battle for blood as a female lioness crept out of the foliage, ready to pounce.

Recently, eyewitness photos surfaced on Flickr, along with play-by-play commentary detailing just how the lioness stalked her prey. In the end, the buffalo did manage to run away from its predator, although it appeared badly hurt. Those who witnessed the event, meanwhile, were lucky that the two male lions watching from the wilderness didn't jump in!