Pipe Lions & Sign Lions!!!- Article by Gareth Jones
Pipe Lions & Sign Lions Of The Nairobi National Park!
Recently, I was driving in the Athi basin on some of the newly reconstructed roads. I was with two international visitors who were really enjoying their outing in the park. Naturally, they did mention earlier that they were happy with whatever they saw, but that seeing a lion would be very special for them. Not far from the hippo pools we rounded a corner and saw a few vehicles parked on a side track parallel to a newly constructed raised culvert over the road. As I slowly moved over the raised culvert, the people in the vehicles began to point at the storm water pipe inside the raised culvert, and mouthed the word “lion”. Soon, I managed to position my vehicle exactly in line with the pipeline and had a clear vision of a sleeping lion within the storm water pipeline. It was clear that this lioness was really enjoying the cool shade and tunneled windy breeze inside the pipe. It is interesting how some wild animals take advantage and virtual ownership of some manmade structures in conservation areas, and the Nairobi National Park is no exception. Other species that also often use storm water pipe as temporary “homes” include jackals, warthogs, mongoose and spotted hyenas.
Soon, we drove away and left the sleeping lioness. I decided to drive to the Athi dam for a while, and then returned later in the afternoon when the daytime temperatures had cooled enough for the lion to awaken and hopefully emerge. When we returned there was a freshly killed zebra carcass nearby as well. We parked for a short while and waited to see if a lion would come and eat. But after waiting some time, I decided to move to another position closer to the storm water pipe. Then suddenly there they were, two lionesses and three cubs, plus we also had a glimpse of a big male lion walking down into the thick river bushes and disappearing. We watched the lions for a while, as my guests enjoyed every special moment. All too soon, it was time to leave as we still had to drive all the way up the park, to exit the park in good time.
On another occasion, I saw many vehicles parked along the main road near No2 junction, so instead of joining the “lion jam”, I watched from a distance hoping the lions might get up as it was starting to rain lightly. Sure enough they began to get up and walked away from the road. I saw the direction they were moving in, and guessed they would hopefully emerge from the thick bushes and onto the tar road along the dam leading to No1 junction. I did not wait long when suddenly seven lions came out of the long grass and onto the road right next to me, and began to walk down the tar road. I followed them to No 1 junction stone sign and watched as three of them climbed on top of the sign. They stayed on top of the junction sign for a few minutes and they posed beautifully and seemingly surveyed the plains below the Ivory burn site. Soon, they moved off into the long grass, so I anticipated that they might move towards the Ivory burn site and parked on the murram road and waited. Suddenly, two unsuspecting warthogs were charged by three young lions, one of the warthogs dashed across the road right next to my car and had a narrow escape. The lions walked through the Ivory burn site and upwards.
A few years ago, it was late in the day, as I drove along the ridge leading to the Masai gate, suddenly a lioness appeared and walked across the road to jump on top of the sign post 28B. Positioning myself quite close to her, and with the engine off, it was fascinating to watch the lioness. She stood on top of the sign post for some time, and appeared to be looking out over the valley below, then suddenly she crouched down on top of the sign, hiding behind a shrub. It was clear that she had seen something, as the lioness was super alert. She slid silently off the sign post and with stealth moved into a crouching position on the edge of the road. At that moment, I saw the horns of a female eland approaching in the fading light, and held my breath as it moved forward towards the waiting lioness. It came closer and closer.. 50… 40… 30 meters, in a flash, the lioness charged at the eland. Wow!! she just missed…..the eland escaped to live another day. The lioness casually returned to the edge of the road and sat there cleaning herself as if nothing had happened.
Over the years, I have seen many lions on top of sign posts, and they often use them to look out over the surrounding areas, but this is the first time I have ever seen a lioness actually hunt from a sign post. Truly, an amazing incident! It is interesting to note, that the Nairobi Park lions in particular, seem to love climbing up the stone junction signs. They often use them to look out over the surrounding areas or just enjoy the warmth from the stones, but it is not often that I have seen lions actually hunt using a sign post!
On a number of occasions, I have also watched lion cubs use the stone junction signs to play on. Sometimes, they play an almost in a sort of “I’m the king of the castle” game, as one climbs up first and the others then try to follow. Naturally, the smaller the cubs are, the more they struggle to climb on top. They then often stay there for a while before jumping down again hastily when the adult lioness or lionesses start walking away. The Nairobi lions have become world renowned, and they display themselves very grandly for thrilled visitors when they pose on top on the stone junction signs. We hope and pray that future generations of visitors from all over the world will continue to be able to enjoy the sighting of seeing “lions on signs” and the occasional “lion in a pipe” as well!!!
Pipe Lions & Sign Lions
