National Geographic Eternal Enemies: Lions and Hyenas Page #5

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like the hyenas.

Matsumi's pride is attacked and chased.

As they retreat, one female is separated

behind the line of attack by the intruders.

She is surrounded and seriously injured.

With only a few minutes of rest

between the attacks

the female is tormented throughout the night.

Matsumi has been waiting in the shadows,

and comes in to investigate

when the growls subside.

The injured lioness is an older female

possibly her mother.

But Matsumi can do nothing.

She is chased off

and the old female is left alone

to whatever fate awaits her.

In the night, her blood drains out

onto the grass.

The Central Pride is now

smaller by one lioness.

It is always sad to watch the death of a lion

or a hyena that we have come to know,

but these endless cycles of life and death

have continued throughout the ages.

Matsumi and her pride reassemble

and walk into the darkness.

Silently.

The horrors of the night melt away

into the warm glow of survival.

After the death of the older female

and within a month of losing her cubs,

young Matsumi comes into heat again.

Mondayvoo reacts to the scent

and follows her trail

knowing that she is ready for mating.

While the younger male, Untwydumala,

is away patrolling the territory,

his brother dominates the mating.

A few months later the Southern Clan

patrols on the same patch of Savuti

that soaked in the lioness's blood.

They are hunting.

For the first time the Princess has joined

the matriarch on the hunt.

Zebras have returned on their migration.

The clan methodically hunts down the fauls,

not bothering about stealth.

Untwydumala is back from his patrol.

Always ready to confront hyenas.

He catches the matriarch.

It is a moment of supreme opportunity

for the male.

Not concerned with food, his drive is to kill.

Her back is broken.

The matriarch can't survive

a brutal mauling by a male lion.

On her very first hunt,

the Princess is faced with a catastrophy.

She has only just passed

from total dependence

on her mother's milk into the harsh world

where she will have to fend for herself.

As the Princess finds her,

the matriarch breaths her last.

Without the matriarch, the clan is in turmoil.

They are leaderless.

New relationships have to be sorted out.

Second and second-ranked females

now compete for the top position.

The males molest a female,

possibly to force her to choose a mate.

Among hyenas females select

which male to mate with.

For months the clan will be nervous

and quarrelsome,

weakened against attack

by lions or other hyena clans.

The life of the Pincess is also in turmoil.

Without the protection of her mother

she has lost all rank in the hierarchy.

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