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Wednesday 21 November 2018

A lion encounter that changed my life

Guest post by Teddy Mukula, Student Blog Contest Series 2018



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. 

 
Liuwa Plain National Park (Zambia) Lions; photo by Teddy Mukula

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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