Mugumo Munene, Alnoor Amlani and Ralph Johnstone.
17 February 2002
The strange love story between the lioness and a baby oryx came to an end yesterday when game wardens separated them.
Nine game wardens surrounded and tranquillised the frail Beisa oryx calf as it dozed fitfully in the shade of an acacia tree. Kamuniak (or The Blessed One), as the queer lioness of the Samburu Game Reserve has been christened by local people, had left the oryx and went hunting.
The oryx, weak from hunger, was loaded gently into a vehicle and taken to Lewa Downs, a private game sanctuary near Nanyuki.
"It was either that or leave it to die. It was too weak and would not have survived another day without being fed," senior Kenya Wildlife Service Warden, Mr Julius Kimani, said.
This is the second time in as many months for Kamuniak to defy the law of the jungle and play mother to a species that lions normally prey on.
The lioness first made headlines in early January, when, much to the surprise of Kenya's wildlife experts, she adopted her first oryx calf. For 17 days, she starved while the baby antelope made regular visits to its lactating mother.
At one stage, the lioness saw off a family of cheetahs that tried to kill the calf. But sadly, many said inevitably, the oryx was eventually killed by another passing lion.
As before, the lioness showed a completely maternal affection for the oryx calf. Mr Kioko Musyoki, a hotel manager, said at one point he saw the lioness put the calf's head inside its mouth.
"The baby just stands there, flapping its ears, while the lioness stands guard over it. It hasn't moved more than five metres from it all day," he said.
It is not clear how this second calf and its mother were separated but the Valentine Day bonding between the lioness and the newborn calf was as bizarre as the earlier one.
A 24-hour guard mounted by four wardens was maintained throughout the night to keep the friends safe. The wardens were kept busy throughout the night and at one time, they had to scare away a pride of lions that were prowling too close to the sleeping duo.
The warden's bright flashlights and burning torches soon had the lions on their way.
Early yesterday morning, Mr Kimani and the Samburu National Park's Chief Warden Simon Leirana found the calf had become too weak to stand. It had not fed for two days and plans had already been made to capture and bring the calf's mother closer.
"But when we saw the condition it was in, we decided to take it. The fact that the lioness had gone hunting was an opportunity we did not want to miss," Mr Kimani said.
The strange relationship has the wardens and naturalists at the park puzzled. Wildlife experts have offered a range of scientific explanations, with most attributing the adoption to unfulfilled maternal instincts.
Some suggested the lioness may be unable to conceive her own cub, and has taken to satisfying her natural instincts through another species. But none could say why she is so fond of the oryx, nor why she turned to a prey species instead of adopting, say, a lion cub.
It has been suggested that wildlife authorities could intervene and help the lioness get over its fixation by conceiving its own cub or adopting one from another pride.
Mr Jonathan Scott, the Kenyan photographer famous for his big cat exploits, pointed out that the lioness was foregoing hunting to protect the oryx and was certain to get weaker as a result.
"She already needs human intervention to sustain her situation," he said. "In fact, her place in the wild is now questionable."
He suggested that a KWS vet should examine the lion in order to determine her physical health. If her behaviour does not change, he said, she may have to be moved out of the wild for her own sake.
Ms Daphne Sheldrick, who runs a world-famous programme rehabilitating orphaned wildlife in Nairobi, said: "These creatures are simply not compatible, and unfortunately this oryx will almost certainly face the same fate as its predecessor."
She feels the situation should be allowed to play itself out until the lioness learns to stop adopting oryx.
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