The Kalahari Desert is the largest continuous mantle of sand in the world, stretching across some nine countries and covering over 800 000 km. The African lion is endemic to the Kalahari and manages to survive in an ecosystem characterized as a semi-desert. These lions are of the toughest in the world, facing regular and rigorous drought cycles, veld fires and temperatures exceeding 40ºC in summer and reaching -15ºC in winter. They are generally smaller than their counterparts in eastern South Africa with males averaging between 180 and 200 kg and females around 120 kg. They survive on small mammals such as porcupine and even hunt bat-eared fox to survive. Oryx comprise about 40 % of their diet and springbok about 10 %.Due to the vast areas they must cover to survive, Kalahari lions will walk up to 60 km in one stretch to find food.
Intu Afrika is home to two Kalahari lions.
Currently there is an adult male and adult female. The animals were held in captive conditions and were fed pieces of meat on a daily basis. Subsequent to their arrival on Intu Afrika they were released into a 500 ha enclosure with the aim of rehabilitating them with eventual release onto the 10 000 ha reserve.
Preliminary results indicate that lions are exceptionally adept at tolerating cold and heat. Published literature states that lions are most active under 10ºC and the fact that lions are successful in the Kalahari desert indicate their ability to tolerate extreme temperatures.
Lions, as all cats and dogs, can only sweat through their paws and the mucous membranes of the mouth. This is why one regularly sees lions lying with their forepaws upturned. They also use panting to cool down the core temperature of the body and have a special structure that uses panting to cool down the blood going into the brain.
Drinking has the same effect but for some reason, the lioness’s body responds within an hour and the male only within two hours. Reasons for this are not known although the weight of the male at 226kg versus that of the female at 126kg may play a role.
It is said that lions will lie like “honey in the sun” during the day. When they do this they are not lazy, they are in fact, controlling their body temperature!
