Guest post by Teddy Mukula, Student Blog Contest Series 2018
Liuwa Plain National Park (Zambia)
Lions; photo by Teddy Mukula
Full of enthusiasm and undying energy
few months after my graduation in September of 2013, I found myself in the back
of an old Land Rover, a typical field research vehicle in most of Zambia’s
national parks. The drive from Lusaka to Kafue National Park was a quiet one;
my head was full of uneasiness on what camping would be like. This was going to
be my first ever camping experience. A magnitude of things that could go wrong
kept my mind busy. I tried to comfort myself, but it is not always easy to
leave your comfort zone and pursue a challenging task especially if you are yet
to fully comprehend why you are taking such a challenge. I was a fresh graduate
with little experience. This trip was a break or make for my chances of joining
the carnivore project (Zambian Carnivore Programme). I had done well at the
interview session earlier that month. However, this opportunity was a test of
my capabilities, and also to give me a chance to decide on whether this was
what I wanted to do. Thus, the stakes were high for me, and I had to do my best
with this chance, proving my usefulness while at the same time accessing if
this was right for me.
The next 3 days in the Kafue National
Park (Zambia’s biggest national park) were very busy. During the day we
conducted strip count herbivore surveys along transects in a savannah woodland
while nights were spent at whatever spot we thought was suitable for camping.
We made a fire to keep us warm and were entertained by conservation tales from
the experienced field biologist and veterinarian, Wiganson who was leading the
field work. The Land Rover was our moving kitchen, office, and clinic,
containing all that we needed, ranging from food to veterinary equipment. On
one particular day while out in the field we received information about a
possible location of a collard female lion (Panthera
leo) that was missing for some time, because her collar battery died. In
the research and conservation world that is equivalent to a medical emergency
and we had to go to the location immediately. We drove to the site and found
her. I was delighted because this was my first ever opportunity to partake in a
collaring experience. All seemed okay and after preparing his vet kit, the
experienced vet made a short with his dart gun; he was on target, and the three
of us expressed some hushed joy. However, our joy was short lived because as
soon as the female stormed out of the place she had been resting, we realized
that she was in a company of a handsome male, who we later discovered she was
mating with. We had not seen the male earlier, because he was nicely hidden by
a rock. This brought an incredible moment of silence and even I knew things had
taken a wrong turn.
Meanwhile our female lion headed for
the rocks and the male followed her in an agitated manner. This situation created
three major problems, first of all, no vehicle could pass through such rocky
terrain; secondly, the prince charming was now unsettled and keeping close to
his lady, and thirdly; we had no proper visual of the two. Time was ticking and
we had to do something as every minute was precious at that moment because the
immobilizing medicine was already at play. As an ambitious intern I was not
short of ideas and said we could walk in. I hadn’t thought that through. What?!
Was the vet’s response and it dawned on me on how crazy I sounded.
Surprisingly, I remained set on the idea and bolstered my crazy ideas with text
book punch lines on how we just needed to make as much noise as possible.
Reluctantly, everyone committed to my crazy idea. We did not have many options.
Picking up pots and anything that could produce noise; we sang songs that did
not have to mean a single thing as long as we were making some noise and we went
in sounding like lunatics.
We soon found the female sleeping
from the immobilization, the male fled a bit but not far enough. So as my team
mates got busy with unfitting the collar, I kept banging my pots and sang
nonsensical songs to keep us safe and keep the work going. Soon the male
retreated even further; I need to mention that through all this process I was
so frightened, rather than just a job opportunity this was the time that I
realized how much I cared for the cause I had decided to join. After the
classroom, I was now in the real wild doing what I signed up for and trust me
it was not a smooth start it was a daunting situation for a beginner like me.
Well, let’s not get carried away, we still have a lion sleeping on the ground
we better get back to work. The male lion kept retreating and soon I lost sight
of him, and I could only hear him roar afar as he kept moving while my team
kept working. Initially we just intended to remove the collar but we soon
realized we had braved ourselves enough that we thought we needed to replace
the old collar too.
It went well and it was getting dark
as we sat on a rock from afar waiting for her to get back on her feet. We
normally wait because if the lion is not fully awake and you leave, the hyaenas
(Crocuta crocuta) might have their
Christmas come early. Thus when we saw her stagger to strength we breathed a
sigh of relief. Funny enough we heard his prince charming coming back. He was
in a company of what we perceived was his coalition mate who he went to call
for back up, well we were not there for that kind of battle. So as soon as they
got closer the female grew even stronger and she responded to their calls in
delight. We realized she was safe with the two males coming and no hyaena would dare come now. At this point it was our time to make
ourselves safe from the wrath that was coming. We quickly descended the rocks and
were soon safely in our Land Rover proud of ourselves and ready to go and get
some needed sleep.
A few days later l had to say good
bye to Kafue National Park ZCP team and headed back home feeling proud, I have
to admit. What I did not know was that our crazy lion encounter story had gone
viral in our circle and apparently it worked to my advantage too. I soon got an
email from a gentleman called Egil Droge requesting me to take another
internship experience in the Greater Liuwa National Park (Zambia) where he was
site manager for the Zambian Carnivore Programme. Rather than just being an
exciting thing for me it was also a realization that time had come for me to
take up responsibility and embark on an educational and adventurous journey
that was going to expose me to the real life issues as a conservationist. I
soon met Dr Matthew Becker the CEO of the Zambian carnivore programme, something
I had been looking forward to. The most fascinating thing was not because he is
the CEO, but because he knew my name even before we met from the crazy lion
encounter story. I am now a senior researcher with the said organization using
my experiences to train and encourage other passionate prospective
conservationists to experience a worthwhile crazy encounter. It does not have
to be with a lion like mine, but it has to be for a good conservation cause.
Looking back five years later as I
sit behind the desk as a graduate student at the University of Oxford’s
Wildlife Conservation research Unit it feels so good and fulfilling because all
my experiences my being in Oxford stem back from that and many other
experiences. I am not done yet I still have more mountains to climb and
potentially more crazy encounters and that is ‘the lion encounter that changed
my life’.
Acknowledgements
Mr Mukula would like to pass his sincere
gratitude to:
The Zambian Carnivore Programme and
my colleagues for the support
University of Oxford’s Wildlife
Conservation Research Unit, for the rare opportunity of being part of the
Oxford wide family
Society for Conservation Biology,
Europe Section Board for this wonderful opportunity
Student Conference on Conservation
Science, University of Cambridge for the inspiration
Ms Agnes Pohl
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