We came across a rare sight one day on our game drive in the Kruger park. There was a lion cub all alone sniffing around beside the road. We had just seen the pride a few km away and we wondered about this little guy. He was about 10 months old, walking around and sniffing the ground as if seeking a scent. He had the sense not to call out though which is good. A young lion is easy prey for a predator like a leopard or a hyena. So calling was not. Good idea and he instinctively knew this. I had heard the pride was in the area the previous day but they apparently forgot about him when they moved off or so it appeared cuz they were far away from him. Maybe they moved off in the night and he was crashed someplace and nobody noticed. It is a well-known statistic that only about 1 in 2 lion cubs survive their first year and 1 in 8 make it all the way to adulthood. The adult numbers are not encouraging either with life expectancy for males being only 10-12 years and females a little more. Captive lions live past 20 years. Its tough being a lion in the wild. Anyway we watched him for a while and then had to go on our way, I really hope the kid made it.
