A short video released by the BBC a while ago generated a bit of a buzz online. Shot in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park, it features cats in a tree. But not just any cats … lions, Africa’s biggest. Now, these animals are not exactly well known for their tree-climbing tendencies; it’s actually unusual for these regal felines to be spotted amongst the branches.
Some argue that there are only two prides in the world that are recognized as arboreal adventurers: the Ugandan population seen here in the video and another pride in the Lake Manyara region in southern Tanzania.
So why do certain African cats favour a loftier perch while others prefer to keep their feet on the ground? We all know leopards have arboreal inclinations – after all, life in the trees makes sense for a solitary cat: tree tops are perfect places to shelter prey from rival predators eager to snatch up a leopard’s hard-earned meal.
On the other hand, lofty ambitions are out of the question for cheetahs: without retractable claws and strong legs, scaling tree trunks becomes an impossible feat. Which brings us back to lions. Since they’re social creatures, they’ve got no need to haul their prey out of sight: most scavengers tend to keep their distance when faced with a lion pride in full force.
So why the occasional treetop dalliance?
It’s been suggested that lions prefer sleeping in tree branches to escape annoying, biting insects like tsetse flies that often lurk in the grass. Or perhaps trees are the perfect places to catch a cooler breeze during the heat of the day. I’m not sure if the members of this pride located in Botswana’s Okavango Delta are regular tree-climbers, but Earth-Touch did film them scaling a small tree.
In this video, cameramen Grant Brokensha suggests a couple of reasons why these Okavango lions might have taken to the branches.
Originally published on the Earth-Touch blog.
