Wildlife in the City

Sweet babies sleeping.

We come to Africa for many reasons, but high on the list are the animals.  We have real safaris in our very near future, but today, still in Jo'burg, we got warmed up with a visit to The Lion Park, which is a wildlife sanctuary for many species but especially lions, white lions, wild dogs, and cheetahs.  Just 45 minutes from downtown this little gem has made Newsweek's top 100 destinations, and I see why.  We started our morning in "Cub World", in which we were let into an enclosure with 3 month old lion cubs, a litter that had been abandoned by their mother.  They were mostly sleepy (they sleep 18 hours a day!) but also a little feisty, one of them getting snappy with me and flicking Ian with his tail.  Very cute when they are relatively harmless.   Today's post is perhaps related best in pictures!  It is hard for me, an amateur, to put into words how these animals make you feel in their presence.

Completely in awe that we are petting baby lions.  Who gets to do that?? The pen behind us holds 6 month olds- so much bigger than these 3 month olds- I get why they sleep and eat so much!

2 month old rowdy cheetah cubs; also rescued from a mother who rejected them.  Fast even when just romping. 

We fed a giraffe with her big slobbery black tongue.  Her baby was there, but not interested in us since she is still
a nursling. Human mamas know how that goes! Turns out, they like a scratch behind their ears, just like a dog.

Maggie on lookout, on our "warm up" safari.

We then got to do a "mini safari" as the kids are calling it- the Lion Park has a self drive option through their herds of zebra, impala, and wildebeest. There are also ostriches roaming- now those are funny creatures with their long swiveling necks that reach out to peck food out of your hand.  To have Ian and Maggie say "Stop!  I need a picture of this bird" or whatever else has wandered into view is very rewarding.  At times we feel like we are dragging them around the world for our interest, but moments like these we know they are absorbing it all like little sponges.

We were all positively giggling with excitement when we entered the first lion camp and saw all ages of lion from large cub up through the stately and fierce looking full-maned males (think Mufasa).  They had just been fed, so were fat and happy, mostly lounging around knawing on bones.   They have the different prides separated into camps, I assume to prevent all out brawls for territory, but it also has to do with mating, I'm sure.  The second camp held a treat I will never forget!  These are the rare white lions... gorgeous animals.  They were really hungry, therefore pacing and roaming waiting for the food truck to show up.  When it did, they ran full speed across the large camp to the truck as it was dropping a huge pile of raw meat.  They are such majestic creatures; it was a breathtaking sight.

This big papa walked right up alongside our car, actually marking it as
he passed!  Such attitude, but I suppose it's warranted as we gawk at him.

Walking away from our car after marking it as his; you can see Jo'burg in the distance.

Lunch time.  They got scrappy with each other; the deep guttoral roars were awesome and chilling.

A baby Nile Croc- this guy could grow to 18 feet!

We all held this strong little sucker. 

After the Lion Park, we hit up a small place down the road called Croc City.  It is an educational center run by a commercial crocodile farm!  Maybe this is just PR, but after learning ALL there is to know about crocodiles from this Afrikaaner guy who clearly loves reptiles with all his heart, I think it's not such a bad thing.  In the wild, only 1/100 crocodile eggs makes it to 1 year old, while in captivity the rate is 85/100.  Nile crocodiles were being hunted at a rate that would have them near extinct by now before regulation.  Now they are thriving, and they really are magnificent creatures.


There is also a reptile room on the tour, which houses the nastiest snakes I've ever seen in my life (I'm sorry if you love snakes...   clearly not my thing.) In this room live the world's top 3 deadliest snakes... including green and black mambas, among plenty of other venomous creatures -even ones that spit their venom at you.  Most of them live here... I was really hoping he would say they did not.  At one point I had envisioned some hikes in Kruger National Park (guided, of course) when we go, but after this demonstration I have no such notion.  Our guide told us, in graphic detail, how one dies from each of these snakes, and many do every year.  Good Lord, this will be my test.

Elvis, "the sweetest python ever"... not loving they way he wrapped himself around
my body like a tree trunk. I don't care how sweet he is, he is a snake. 

Maggie, Sister Francis of Assisi when it come to bunnies.  These roam free at
the Crocodile farm... don't tell her that these guys and their offspring are not
only cute, they are dinner for many of these hungry reptiles.  

I will end with the story of Yvonne, the goat, our indigenous wildlife of Mallen House.  Jan and Lawrence's son, Scott, is an African political and cultural researcher and writer.  About 6 months ago he was returning from a trip through Africa, collecting data and doing his research.  They were planning a welcome home party for him, and Lawrence thought he needed a gift to celebrate his homecoming.  There is nothing that says Africa more than a free range goat.  So, in his own flavor of humor he went to a local township woman who is a goat herder and he bought a goat, who is now known as Yvonne.  He didn’t tell anyone that he was doing this, including Jan.  He brought her home in the back of his Audi, and set her free in the garden.  The next morning Jan woke up, went outside for the first time of the day and said “Lawrence, there is a goat in our yard”.  He replied that yes in fact there was, so let’s give it to Scott for a welcome home present.  They put it back in the Audi that night, tied up, and took her and set her loose in the party.  Everyone had a good laugh.  The next few days passed, and Lawrence was planning on taking the goat back to its’ origins, when he noticed she was tattooed with a number.  Suddenly Lawrence realized this goat’s fate was to be sold for stew meat in the near future, and he realized he had fallen in love with her.  So, she didn’t go back.  Yvonne got to eating some tasty berries in the backyard, until one day Jan and Lawrence realized that she was neuroleptically poisoned!  Turns out, these berries were not so good for poor Yvonne!  Lawrence called a running friend of his who happens to be a veterinarian nurse at the Joburg zoo.  Somehow, through his charm and charisma, Lawrence got Yvonne the goat admitted to the zoo hospital as a zoo animal (read “for free”!), where she remained on an IV drip inpatient for a week.  Her ward mates that week were a depressed baboon and two little monkeys who had escaped their enclosure only to find themselves in the crocodile enclosure, both requiring surgery to repair their injuries.  They joked that it wasn’t all that different from any old Jo'burg hospital!  Once Yvonne recovered, Jan insisted that Lawrence look for a farm to donate her to, where she could live out her days in greener pastures.   They located a home for adult developmentally disabled persons that was located on a farm.  They were set to deliver Yvonne when the director of the center admitted that he was scared of goats, something about the way they look at him with those eyes.  So, no go.  Yvonne the naughty goat still lives here, 6 months later, and they suppose she will just stay.  Tonight she snuck in the open front door of the house, and was “choosing” her desired variety of birdseed in the front entrance by picking up the bag with her mouth, spilling contents all over the floor, and butting it with her horns!  Until today she was tearing apart an antique suitcase that adorned the front porch.  All they ever say, chuckling, is “that naughty girl!”.  They are so welcoming, and they go with the flow in all things. We can learn a lot from them.