I was approaching a block of open plane grassland, the
male lion and lioness were well hidden in the long grass but I could see the
other vehicle on a sighting in the distance.
I was making my way towards the other vehicle when a young black rhino bull
stepped out of the thicket to my right and gave us a fantastic sighting, head
held high, curious yet timid. Once he
grew bored of our clicking cameras he moved back into the thicket of knob
thorns and out of our view, or so we thought!
We carried on towards the lions; the male was sitting in
eager anticipation; he clearly was waiting for something from the female that
she was not willing to give him. As we
were enthralled in the lion sighting I saw a dark figure come stomping out
across the plane. Mr rhino was not
putting up with coming second best and he was making a direct beeline for my
vehicle. I changed gears to reverse, ready to get out
quickly if needed, the young bull sniffed the air, he was out of range of the
female lioness, but was about to walk straight past the male lion! My heart was beating as the ground between the
rhino and my vehicle grew less and less. As soon as the bull got whiff of the male it
was like a trigger went loose! The rhino
bull turned suddenly to face the lion a mere 20 metres to his left and our
majestic male lion became petrified and skulked low into the grass. The rhino bull gave one grunt and went full charge
towards the lion! The male lion took off
like a cat caught eating the pet budgie; the rhino was galloping behind him
with no signs of giving up the chase!
The black rhino chased the male lion right out of the grassy
planes, over the road and off into the next field where the rhino diverted off
up the road. The male lion gave a few
roars and moans, obviously feeling very foolish for being chased by a young rhino
bull! When the male lion returned to his
grassy rest spot, his ego bruised and reputation dented; he felt as if he
needed to re establish his manhood, so he went up to the female with determination
and all he got was a paw to the face and a very unwelcoming growl! Who did we say was the king of the jungle
again??
