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I'll address the last question first - Yes, they are fantasising if they claim to always know exactly where to find Lions. They would probably know the "Liony" areas but not exactly where they are from one day to the next..........

Usual game management practices would dictate that one shouldn't usually take a male out of a pride but this is often easier said than done. In reality, individual males sometimes wander away from the pride (presumably?) to get some peace and quiet. Then it can be difficult to be absolutely certain if this animal is now a pride holder or not.

There's also a very good argument that one can take males out of a pride on a rolling basis...... might be better put by saying (for example) that if 2 males are holding a pride but are getting past it, and if there are no (or few) young cubs in that pride and perhaps one or more younger males waiting in the wings then that might be a good time to let clients take the 2 old males and let the younger males in......

Then there's also the scenario where a male is holding a pride but is a problem animal or even an entire problem pride.... then one needs to make other decisions. I had this happen to me last year when I arrived in camp to find an entire pride had gotten into the habit of walking through the camp every night roaring like hell and trying to scare someone into making a dash out of their tent and join them for dinner....... This went on every night, all night. (Mama Shakari gave me no end of shit about the situation!) So one has to weigh up whether to shoot a Lion or two to protect the clients and staff of take a chance the Lions will bugger off elsewhere. Once Lions or other predators get into a habit like this, it can be difficult to break them of it......esp if drought or other conditions might mean they're struggling to survive.

As with most things in Africa, there are no clear cut answers. One needs to judge each case on its own merits.

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Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com

Edited by shakari (14/04/06 07:18 PM)

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