Water is one of the most important substances to animal life, and there’s nothing better than a nice, refreshing drink after a long and hot day. Both prey and predators come to watering holes to drink their fill before they continue on their way.
Hayley Myburgh spotted a group of big cats in the Kruger National Park along the H5 road, and she began filming as more and more appeared from the wilderness to enjoy a cool drink.
For many animals, the watering hole can be a vulnerable place where predators or competitors might leap out at any moment, but with so many apex predators gathered in one place, they were sure to be safe the entire time.
A Single Thirsty Cat
At the beginning of Hayley’s footage, it appeared that the only custodians of the watering hole were two birds that were standing in the mud, being wary of their surroundings.
It took them only a few moments to notice the approaching lions and quickly vacate the area. Neither bird would have been much more than a snack for these powerful predators, but if they’d stayed the weight of the crowd might have crushed them.
A single lion, obviously quite parched, hurried into view and wasted no time before hunching down to start drinking from the water. For a very brief moment it seemed like this lion might have been the only one, but this notion was quickly disproved.
A Carbon Copy
While the first lion was busily lapping up the water, a second appeared and did a very good job of perfectly mimicking the first. Everything from the posture to the behavior was almost completely identical between them.
Despite the fact that there was plenty of room at this point, the second lion still decided to crouch down close to the first, almost brushing shoulders, which seemed to indicate it was fully aware of how many more were coming.
And They Don’t Stop Coming
For a short moment, it was only these two lions at the watering hole. The rest of the big cats must have fallen behind slightly on the way to their much needed drink.
But then a third came, and a fourth, and then, so suddenly that if you blink you’d miss it, seemingly the whole pride had assembled right on the edge of the water, all determined to fit in the smallest space possible.
It’s unclear exactly how much room they had around the watering hole, but they’d clearly decided that it didn’t matter when they could all squeeze themselves between these two bushes, and force themselves in shoulder to shoulder for a drink.
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Running Out Of Room
There were so many lions hunkered down on the edge of the water that they even began running out of room for the newcomers to fit. Two slowpokes that arrived late couldn’t even find a gap to force themselves into.
These two had to wait until some of the other lions had had their fill and backed away from the water so that they could take that spot for themselves.
At least they all had a much needed drink at the end, and seeing so many lions in one spot was an amazing sighting for Hayley to make. It’s impossible to predict what might be just around the corner in the Kruger, but it might just be a pride of thirsty lions.
