You can always rely on a father’s love

With the warmer weather now moving in, the lions are becoming more inactive through the day; leaving the bulk of their (minimal) activity to the cooler nights.  This is however with the exception of the ever-playful AT1.  She spent her day (7th Sep) trying to initiate play with the unenthusiastic lionesses.  This included bringing a stone in her mouth to present to some of the members of the pride who all appeared to look up briefly from their slumber and then doze off again, much to AT1’s disappointment!  This did not seem to deter her jovial efforts, as she carried on pawing the stone and throwing it up in the air from her mouth.  She even took it to her protective dad Milo to see if he’d join in the games as he sometimes does, but sadly on this occasion sleep was his number one priority!  After Milo had woken up AT1 returned later to him to say hello and reaffirm the strong bond that exists between the two of them.

The playfulness did not end there; at one point AT1 seemed to be enjoying herself by trying to catch the omnipresent flies – possibly a trait learnt from observing fellow pride member, Narnia, who has a habit of trying to catch those pesky flies.

At one point in the day AT1 also thought she would try her luck at stalking some birds.  She crouched on the ground and edged forwards slowly, but unfortunately for her (and fortunately for the birds) the intended prey flew off well before she could get close.

This playful behaviour is a great sign for the success of the Stage 2 programme as it is showing that AT1 is already learning essential hunting techniques from her captive-born pride members.