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PRIDE: A tale of Lions
Sivaram Hariharan PhD
aka Shiva Iyer
ISBN: 0-646-42051-8
Email: drsivaramhariharan@gmail.com
https://sites.google.com/site/omsriguru/sivaram
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The following paragraphs are excerpted from Sivaram Hariharan's
book PRIDE: A tale of lions.
PREFACE
Pride, which is based on lion life in the African savannah, is a narrative that has arisen from the depths of my mind; the depths that hold a very strong admiration for the lion as a creature that rules the African savannah. The tale is entirely fictitious and also includes the lives of other animals that share the grasslands with the lion. At different stages, the narrative loosely centres on certain key individual lions. But I have striven to maintain an aspect of continuity throughout the narrative. Whatever aspects of lion life that is mentioned here leans in its entirety on information gathered from reading books on lion life, watching videos, documentaries, and anything I could get hold of regarding this magnificent beast. I also had some firsthand experience watching the beast at the Gir forests in western India, while I was doing my Masters degree at Ahmedabad. But I have never been to Africa when I wrote this book and hence for me this narrative is a tribute to all those documentaries and natural history books regarding lions.
Knowledgeable readers may easily recollect a particular documentary from some of the passages in the tale even though there are many portions in this narrative that arose from my own imagination. But there was no other way for me to write a realistic tale on lions without borrowing lion facts from these sources. Therefore I am greatly indebted to the producers of these documentaries on whose shoulders rest this lion narrative. Consequently, any sales or credit from this book should only go to those hardworking makers of these documentaries and authors of the natural history books who have spent countless and thankless hours in the wild recording wildlife facts, risking their limbs and lives in the process
At the outset let me point out that I wrote this because I love writing about this great beast. It was not my intention to come up with just another book on wildlife. Some of my greatest inspirations in undertaking this endeavour have been George Adams, Garreth Patterson, and George Schaller, whose books still thrill me even when I read them for the umpteenth time. Not to forget the classic written by Col. Patterson, The Man Eaters of Tsavo and the breathtaking movie that came out of it, The Ghost and the Darkness.
The lion continues to fascinate man not only because of its legendary strength and power but also due to its tendency to live in a social family structure. The mane of the male lion tends to give it a royal halo, which in turn has contributed towards the lion being named the king of the beasts. Wherever possible in this tale, I have tried my best to remain objective with regards to lion behavior and life. There is a serious risk of extrapolating human values and ethics in these kinds of endeavours. What one must never forget is that the lion is just another creature that is just behaving the way it has genetically evolved. The darker aspects of lion life that many a time involves extreme violence and horror should take away nothing from the beast. A greater understanding of nature is needed to appreciate wildlife as it is in the natural world.
Even as I write this, the lion is facing serious habitat threat by the number one enemy of the natural world, man. Where, once upon a time, thousands of these great cats roamed regions stretching all over Africa, the mountains of southern Europe through to Asia, is now reduced just to some regions in Africa plus a minuscule part of western India. The Asiatic lion is almost breathing its last in the remaining vestiges of the Gir forests in western India.
Will posterity ever get to see the lion as it is in the wild? The key lies in our hands and the time to act to preserve the natural world is now.
S. Hariharan
Excerpt: The scenario pertains to three nomadic male lions
trying to hunt down an old and wily bison bull.
Mahishi was oblivious of the egrets that were sitting on him and pecking at the parasites on his body. He was shaking his massive head from time to time to ward off the irritating flies. The huge boss of horns that adorned his massive head looked imposing and intimidating. And they found a fitting compliment in his big red tinged eyes. Mahishi was past his prime and no longer part of the regular buffalo herds. He was more or less solitary these days, as he could no longer keep up with the youngsters. Now and then he associated with other old bulls, but rarely. There was a time in the bygone years when Mahishi ruled the roost. He was a formidable prime bull in those days and the most dominant in his herd. He had sired many calves over the years. During those days, Mahishi feared none on the grasslands including the lion prides that were the only predators capable and daring enough to take on his kind. Even as a juvenile he had warded off lion attacks with fearlessness and ferocity. He was unusually big for his age as a youngster. In his prime he was massive and supremely strong and had four leonine casualties to his credit. On one occasion, he had gored three juvenile nomadic males that had shown the temerity to attack him. The three suffered lingering agonizing deaths from deep and mortifying gore wounds. On another occasion, he had pinned a lioness against a tree trunk with his massive head and smashed her skull with one heave of his rippling neck.
Mahishi still carried the scars of those attacks. Those were the only times that the lions actually made physical contact with him. Most of the other times, they had made halfhearted charges to size him up and backed away after realizing that the big bull was totally beyond their power. Mahishi also had a stubborn streak in him. Once he had chased an entire pride of lionesses up a tree and waited below for almost a full day with his herd for the tawny cats to come down. Finally his gnawing hunger made him abandon the siege. Mahishi was always to be found on the periphery of the herd those days, ever vigilant against predators and ever protective of the juveniles and the calves in the herd. But, age had slowly crept up on him and eaten into his strength. His eyesight was getting weaker and he was getting crankier. The great bull was beginning to feel the combined pressures of age and of the lion prides that he ran into now and then. To his irritation, he was finding that the lions were not readily backing down as they had done in the past. His bluff snorts and charges were not effectively carrying the message across. The hunters were no doubt sensing his fading strength. As a result, Mahishi was getting edgier and cranky with the passing days and consequently more dangerous to the unwary and the careless.
Just recently Mahishi had gored to death an illegal poacher, who had the misfortune to run into him. The poacher had somehow missed sighting Mahishi hidden in the thicket as he approached a nearby tree on foot to check on his poisoned leopard bait. He had his big shot gun in his hand ready and loaded. A single shot from it aimed at the right spot could easily stop dead even a prime bull elephant. Without any warning, an infuriated Mahishi charged out of the thicket like a locomotive under full steam. Before the poacher could realize what was happening, the big buffalo bulldozed into him, hooked him up with his horns and spun him around like a rag doll. The poacher’s heavy shotgun flew away into the thicket on impact like a plastic toy. The bull then angrily snorted and trampled the hapless fellow and then gored him again, disemboweling the man in the process. The poacher’s horrified assistant, who was waiting in a jeep nearby tried to start the vehicle in order to flee. Mahishi, alerted by the coughing of the engine now turned his fury towards the jeep. He charged and rammed into it from the side in full speed and almost flipped it on its side. The screaming assistant somehow managed to get out of the vehicle from the opposite side and clamber up a nearby tree. Mahishi now proceeded to ram the base of the tree, shaking it so violently that the young assistant’s sobs and wails could be heard far and wide over the savannah. Finally Mahishi stopped his pummeling of the tree. He was obviously weary and that cooled him off a bit. The bull waited below the tree for almost half a day before proceeding to walk away. The young man was too scared to come down. He got down only the following morning and fled towards his heavily dented vehicle. Fortunately for him, the vehicle started and he was able to drive away.
This morning Itula, Januz, and Sun were particularly hungry. They had not had a decent meal for the past few days and their stomachs rumbled with hunger. They had sighted a herd of buffalo and stopped in their tracks. The threesome badly needed a good-sized meal and a buffalo kill would amply see to that. They moved forward again to investigate the herd from close quarters, probing it for weakness or for some careless young calf. The prime bulls in the herd snorted with anger at the approaching lions. Instinctively the bulls had formed a circle around the herd, shielding the cows and the calves in the center. Four of the bulls facing the approaching lions made a quad-pronged charge at their tawny assailants, hissing and snorting with their heads low to the ground. The nomads growled and backed away. The bulls then returned back to their herd. The message was clear. There were no openings for the predators here. They had to look elsewhere. Suddenly Sun stiffened and moved towards the right of the herd. Itula and Januz immediately took the cue and followed him. The three had spotted a lone buffalo bull far away. This was a possible opening for the cats. But they had to proceed with extreme caution. This potential meal was also a potentially lethal adversary. For Itula and Januz, this was going to be a first. They had never hunted buffalo before and had only seen their aunts and mothers do it. Instincts told them that this was not going to be easy and made them wary. On the other hand, Sun had a few bison kills under his belt during his pride master days. Even though pride males seldom hunt, they come into their own in the hunting of big prey like buffalo and put their superior bulk and size to good use. It is also known for male lion coalitions to hunt buffalo now and then. Hunting of buffalo did not call for speed or camouflage. All it required were raw strength and courage and the sheer mental will to prevail. Most of all, it called for tons of circumspection. A false move could prove crippling or as in most cases mean death itself. Inexperience and rashness spelt doom.
Mahishi shook his head with violent fury and snorted as his failing eyesight picked up the three nomads circling him and sizing him up. But Sun showed his defiance by answering with a growl. Itula halted and was now studying the situation, while Sun and Januz circled Mahishi in opposite directions. Mahishi was highly infuriated by this time and he now decided to use his second line of intimidation. With a snort he rushed towards Itula, his menacing horns low and pointed towards the feline. Itula immediately scampered away with a snarl. Mahishi, now turned to face the other two who were now behind him. With another snort he launched himself at them like a freight train, scattering the twosome the wake of his charge. Mahishi, now proceeded to move towards the safety of the herd. Sun immediately sensed this and charged at Mahishi, halting the progress of the bovine. Mahishi immediately turned with fury and shook his great head snorting and trying to intimidate the lion. Now Sun started circling his quarry again. By this time, Januz had slipped behind Mahishi, unnoticed.
With a huge roar, Januz leapt on the great back of Mahishi. Immediately, Sun moved in and got a biting hold on Mahishi’s rump. The bull bellowed with fury and tried to turn and face Sun. Mahishi was the least concerned about Januz, who was now doing a balancing act. But Sun held on fast and turned along with Mahishi. It was at this time that Itula decided to make his move. With a low growl, he charged with an intention of getting a hold on Mahishi’s rump from the side opposite to the direction in which the bison was turning his head. It was an ill calculated move as the big buffalo chose the same moment to heave his mighty head to the other side; the side from which Itula was charging. The side of Mahishi’s horns squarely struck Itula’s ribs, cracking them like twigs and driving the wind out of the young lion. With a painful snarl Itula fell back on to the grass and maintained his balance with an effort. Mahishi, sensing Itula’s distress now charged towards him. Even with Januz on his back and Sun pulling him, the gray beast showed surprising strength. Itula took flight, his body seething in pain. By this time, Sun had lost his grip and Januz his balance. Mahishi picked up pace and now turned bellowing in the direction of the herd. The herd bulls picked up his distress calls and now they came rushing to his aid. The hunt was over for the nomads and Mahishi had won this contest with just a few scratches on his rump inflicted by Sun’s claws and teeth.
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