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| Location: |
Africa - Eastern Africa - Kenya |
| Subject: |
Ecology - Interspecific Relations |
| Species: |
Black Rhino |
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At about 22h00 on 16/11/98, we happened upon the dominant male lion of the Kichwa Pride close to the airstrip; he had been mating during the day and was bloated after a big meal. Out of the darkness, a Black Rhino appeared and it was soon encircled by the pride. The well-fed male showed no interest, however, and remained lying down. The sub-adult lions had probably never encountered a rhino before and jumped up at it. This appeared to anger the rhino which snorted and rushed at the nearest lion -the large male. The male tried to get out of the rhino's path but was too slow and the rhino drove its horn into the lion's rump, knocking it backwards. The rhino then simply turned tail and wandered off into the night. The male was bleeding profusely from its wound and clearly, in great pain for it could not rise to walk away with the rest of the pride.
We returned to the scene at 6h30 the following morning, to find the lion still alive but breathing very heavily in a pool of blood. Vultures had gathered in the surrounding trees. In a supreme effort, the lion managed to haul itself about 20m to a shady lugga only to die there at about 10h00. Most surprisingly, no vultures or other scavengers came to eat the body of the lion after we left. Follow up visits revealed no maggots and the whole carcass eventually dried out.
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Black rhino kills male lion
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