Cats have reached the top of the predator league, the ultimate killing machines, with the leopard being the most powerful, and the lion being king.
Nature is immense in its beauty, and vast in its suffering.
There are few places on Earth where we can see true nature in all its splendor and bloody pain.
Botswana is one such place.
Each species has its niche in life and its certain death. Each attribute or function of an animal has evolved along with, and been shaped by, other species. This has led to “endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful”. And bizarre. And deadly. Some, by selected chance, have ended up as predators, but any stable system can only support few such killing machines, the rest have had to make do by using varied and sometimes crazy methods to escape being today’s lunch.
Birds, for example, had to adapt, they took to the skies, and some of those, bizarrely, came back to earth to depend on size and land speed to evade death.
Most mammals ended up as a food source, some of these also went down the gigantism route
Others went for height...
...but predators evolved too.
Speed, power, agression, brute force. All this can be seen in the two top big cats found in Botswana.
Although the lion is the king of beasts, the leopard has evolved to be the strongest in relation to body mass. It can haul kills such as impala into trees, to escape those that would wish to steal its prize.
And it can climb those trees to kill.
Its large mass shaking tree and prey alike. Evolving alongside such powerhouses means that those who do not evolve escape abilities, die. Most monkeys do escape.
But not this one
The brute force of the leopard is only surpassed by the noble lion. Being king of all beasts however does not come easy. The master of the pack must fight to gain his place, and he must fight to keep it. All great leaders eventually are displaced, often by their own offspring. Used to being served fresh meat daily by their harem, they then have to fend for themselves. Not having perfected their hunting skills, they often fall back on scavenging
This beast was one of two unrelated lions who hunted together, unsuccessfully. They were thin and haggered, but a ghost of their previous splendour.
The young lions know nothing of this. They play, they climb, they grow together.
The strongest hope to become the leaders.
In Botswana, you will see lions. You will get close to lions. You will see their power and their majesty.
As Terry Pratchett said, «In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this ». You can see it in their eyes. Utter disdain.
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