Chapter 55 Kruger Lion (II)
The entire African continent is located near the equator, spanning the northern and southern hemispheres, and most of its area has a tropical climate.
Kruger National Park in South Africa is located south of the equator, and the change of seasons is completely opposite to that in the Northern Hemisphere.
In September and October, the northern hemisphere has just bid farewell to the midsummer and welcomed the fruitful autumn. The Greater Kruger Region is at the end of winter, but there is no sign of winter staying.
Like most areas of Africa, there is almost no distinction between spring, summer, autumn and winter here, and there are only two seasons a year: the dry season and the rainy season.
Although Yu Yiyun had to do things the same as usual, her start was not too bad.
As long as the end of the dry season is survived, the South African grasslands will gradually enter the rainy season, and the animals at least don’t have to worry about dying of thirst because they can’t find water.
But even in the rainy season, due to its proximity to the equator, the average annual precipitation in this savanna is less than 400 mm.
With the increase of human activities in Africa, more than 80% of animal habitats have been affected. A large number of trees have been cut down, soil has been lost, and grasslands have gradually become desertified.
In the habitats of many wild animals, precipitation has been less than 100 mm for several consecutive years, seriously below the drought line of 200 mm annual precipitation. More and more small animals are dying due to lack of water.
Years of drought not only bring unbearable thirst, but also greatly increase the probability of wildfires.
For people and animals living in Africa, heavy rain is a rare weather event that is rarely seen in a year, let alone snow?
There is no white snow covering the ground, which directly leads to——
A furry glutinous rice ball with snow-white fur, without a single spot of other colors on its body, a white dot amidst the yellow crowd, is particularly eye-catching.
The white cat tucked its claws in and hid in the grass close to the ground, trying to disguise itself.
[A grass-covered cat.jpg]
From a distance, it looks like white clouds floating over the grassland, and it is hard not to be noticed by the surrounding creatures.
Yu Yijun, who thought she had disguised herself perfectly, hid quietly in the low grass and felt quite good about herself.
I turned my head inadvertently and found a ground squirrel that was the same color as the ground. It was spreading its big tail to block the sun and looking at the strange pure white kitten with a surprised look, as if to say "Are you okay?"
Ground Squirrel: Kitty, have you learned enough to pretend to be like me?
Yu Yiyun got up awkwardly, shook off the grass debris on her body, pretended that what happened just now had never happened, and frantically greeted her ex-brother-in-law Baimao in her heart:
I said white can’t be used as a camouflage color!!!
“Wow…”
Life is not easy for a cat, Mimi sighed.
Yu Yiyun simply couldn't imagine how she could survive on the African grasslands with her eye-catching white fur and a little burden after leaving her native lion group.
Time goes back to two days ago——
A brother alliance of three stray male lions invaded Yu Yiyun's native lion group with great fanfare.
As an expert in the field of cat research, Yu Yiyun is very clear:
Once a male lion defeats a landlord lion, it will not harm the adult female lions, but will bite all the bloodlines of the former lion king to death.
The native lion group is relatively small, with only a six-year-old male lion as the lord, who is the biological father of the little lion.
Even though the six-year-old lion is at his peak, facing the challenge of the Brothers Alliance is definitely not a foregone conclusion.
Yu Yiyun had been a big cat for several years and had foreseen the outcome before the battle even started. He was instantly frightened out of his wits.
Before the lions started fighting, he rolled over and got up, shaking off the grass and dust on his body.
Then he pulled and tugged at the stupid little brother next to him who had not been beaten by the lion and was just using his tail as a cat toy, and ran out of the territory of the original lion group with his paws.
After running a few steps, Yu Yiyun caught a glimpse of a white afterimage below him. He lowered his head and saw -
Two fluffy white cat paws!
Cute, want to rub...
etc!
Yu Yiyun shook her head, resisting the temptation of the pure white cat's paws.
This is my own paw, rubbing my ass!
He quickly turned around and re-examined his stupid brother.
The little guy has a round head and khaki fur that is no different from the ground, and looks like the most common appearance of a Kruger lion.
Judging from the size of their paws and the height of their eyes, the two cats should be lion cubs from the same litter, and are estimated to be around eight months old.
Logically speaking, the probability of a lioness having cubs of different fur colors in the same litter should not be high... right?
Yu Yiyun thought of the lion's distant relative, the Chinese rural cat. Giving birth to kittens is like opening a blind box, with all kinds of patterns and colors, but you're not sure.
Holding on to the last glimmer of hope, he escaped from the territory that was about to be occupied.
I found a pond left by African elephants and carefully poked my head out.
A ball of furry glutinous rice balls is reflected on the calm surface of the pond.
Yu Yiyun tilted her head to the left, and Baituanzi tilted her head to the right cutely.
Yu Yijun turned to the right, and Baituanzi followed his movement and turned to the left, blinking the light blue eyes unique to white lions in a daze.
The stupid brother pounced from behind and hung on the little white lion, and another khaki cat's head appeared in the pond.
"Meow!" The younger brother totally couldn't understand his brother's confusing behavior. What was so good about his own shadow?
My brother was so tired from running and crawling that he put his head into the pond and drank the water.
Ripples appeared on the originally calm water surface, and the shadow reflected on the water surface was immediately shattered.
Also shattered at the same time was Yu Yiyun's cat.
Even though he wanted to escape from cat life, he had to face the reality——
I seem, maybe, as if I were a... white lion?
The white lion is not a separate subspecies, nor is it an albino lion. Rather, it is a unique breed born from a genetic mutation of the Kruger lion.
Kruger lions that carry the white lion gene have light brown or light yellow fur.
There is hardly one Kruger lion as pure and white as Yu Yiyun in a million.
Zhumi cried: This is not the SSR I want! ! !
Research data shows that the hunting and living abilities of adult white lions are no different from those of ordinary lions, and they will not be ostracized by their own kind.
However, young white lions have a much higher chance of being attacked by enemy animals because they do not have khaki fur as a protective color.
What's more, Yu Yiyun is now a homeless kitten.
Without the protection of a lion group, the little white lion will not only be attacked by elephants or buffaloes, but will also be the hunting target of Africa's second oldest brother - the hyena.
In addition to having many natural enemies, lions are typical "mama's boys".
In the zoo, a five-month-old tiger has started eating meat on its own, and an eight-month-old lion is still asking its mother for milk.
Even in the wild, lion cubs are completely dependent on their mother's care before they are two years old, and are truly cat-like wastes.
So, even though Yu Yijun is now eight months old, her ability to survive may not be much better than Yunxiao’s who is four months old.
Just like now, he sharpened his claws and pounced on the ground squirrel next to him that was using its tail to shade itself from the sun.
“Squeak~”
The ground squirrel nimbly dodged the stupid kitten's front paws and arrogantly jumped onto the white lion's head.
Two leaf-shaped paw prints were left on his snow-white fur.
“Squeak!”
Oh.
There's nothing special about lions!
The ground squirrel left behind an arrogant look of contempt and hopped away.
Leaving behind the hungry Yu Yiyun, lying there helplessly.
Weak, pitiful, and very hungry...
"Mee! Mee-wah!"
Along with the lively meow of a cat, the stupid little brother who was rescued by Yu Yiyun came running over with a piece of smelly rotten meat in his mouth.
After spending three whole days together, Yu Yiyun discovered that her stupid brother looked cute but had no brains, and had a silly face that could be fooled by AD calcium milk.
This made him quite worried, fearing that even if he rescued his younger brother, he would not be able to raise him.
In fact, as a kitten born and raised in Africa, the silly little brother has a very good ability to adapt, much better than his brother who just came from North America.
At first, he didn't know why his brother took him away from home.
Until he heard the roar in the territory, the little fool, who had once seen lions fighting, immediately spread his paws and ran faster than his brother.
Life is important, slip away~
On the second day after leaving the native territory, the lucky little fool found rotten animal remains near a pond.
My brother's eyes lit up instantly, and he rushed over to eat the food with relish. Before the hyenas and vultures rushed over to snatch the food, he tore off a piece of meat and took it away.
Yu Yiyun was very pleased.
As expected of my brother, he actually knows how to pack.
The next second, he saw his stupid brother running towards him.
"Meow!" The younger brother handed the rotten and smelly meat to Yu Yiyun and said generously: Eat it.
Yu Yiyun was very moved.
I was addicted after just one bite.
During all those years as a dog, I never learned the skill of rumination, but now I have learned it without any instruction.
Under pressure to survive, lions with scarce food will eat carrion.
But not every little lion can immediately accept the smell of carrion.
Not only does rotten meat smell bad and taste terrible, it also carries a large number of pathogenic bacteria.
Many fragile little lions will become sick or even die if they eat carrion.
Obviously, pigs are delicate and weak and have difficulty accepting carrion.
The stupid younger brother couldn't seem to understand why his older brother refused to eat even though he was obviously very hungry?
For the next whole day, the younger brother chased his brother across the grassland with the even more rotten meat in his mouth, trying to force-feed him.
Yu Yiyun, who was forced to love by her overbearing younger brother, was so moved that she wanted to kneel down and beg him to let her go.
The stupid brother didn't hear his prayer, but fortunately, the vulture boss in the sky heard it.
It swooped down and unceremoniously snatched away the meat that the stupid brother had packed.
The little fool ran halfway and the meat in his mouth was gone.
He licked his lips nonchalantly, ran over and used his mouth that had eaten rotten meat to wash Yu Yiyun's face affectionately, as if to comfort the little white lion: It's okay, I'll get you a stinkier one later!
Yu Yiyun held her breath and let him make her face dirty. At the same time, she secretly decided:
Stupid brother, I will call you stinky from now on!
Even if they don't have to eat carrion, the immediate crisis is not resolved at all.
Savannah is just as the name implies, without dense jungle.
Yu Yiyun's natural skill - tree climbing - is almost useless here.
He was now tired and hungry, and was very bad at running and attacking.
The animals that dare to live in the African continent all have unique skills and cannot be caught easily.
Unfortunately, lions are pure carnivores and cannot fill their stomachs by eating grass or fruits.
Yu Yiyun, who cannot accept heavily carrion, can no longer own a territory if she cannot get fresh prey.
He couldn't even wait for his own tomorrow.
[The cat is crying.jpg]
The hungry little white lion got up reluctantly and planned to try his luck at the place with tire tracks ahead.
The Greater Kruger Area is also a national park, but it is very different from Yellowstone National Park.
Kruger Park covers an area of more than 2 million hectares, which is larger than two Yellowstone parks combined.
As the park is too large and not as attractive as the Great Rift Valley and the spectacular antelope flight, the number of tourists is only about 200,000 per year and the tourist routes are relatively fixed.
The tire tracks that appear in such a wild area could only have been made by a documentary photographer.
Photographers in South Africa work closely with animal protection organizations.
Most of the time they follow the 'non-interference with wildlife' filming regulations, but occasionally they will help injured or hungry animals.
Having been a wild beast for two lifetimes, Yu Yiyun fully understands the survival rules of wild beasts.
He didn't want to ask humans for help unless it was absolutely necessary.
Still a few hundred meters away from the wheel tracks, Yu Yijun stopped and watched silently, judging the distance of the camera car by the sound, and hesitated whether he should ask humans for food.
Just as the camera car appeared, a lightning-fast afterimage with black spots flashed past the white lion, chasing the running Thomson's gazelle.
It ran so fast that Yu Yiyun couldn't even see the hunter's appearance clearly.
Judging only by its running speed, Yu Yiyun immediately came to a conclusion:
This speed is definitely Leopard!
The cheetah is the fastest hunting animal on land, with a top speed of over 120 kilometers per hour, and is able to catch prey that other beasts cannot.
The speed of a Thomson's gazelle being chased by a cheetah can also reach over 100 kilometers per hour, and a lion will only end up eating dust if they chase it.
Because cheetahs run fast and are agile, their hunting success rate is the highest among cats, with a single kill probability of an astonishing one in three.
The cheetah successfully bit the gazelle to death and was so tired that it was panting, but it didn't dare to rest.
It looked around vigilantly and found only a white little lion on the side of the road, and it breathed a sigh of relief.
The cheetah has a high success rate, but from its thin body shape, it can be seen that this leopard sister does not have a good diet.
As a recognized punching bag on the grassland, every time the cheetah successfully hunts, the food will be snatched away by a pack of hyenas or lions.
Even if you hang the food on a tree, there are still leopards of the same genus Panthera and long-winged vultures eyeing it.
The grassland leopard, which is good for nothing except running fast and can even be thrown over the shoulders of strong humans, can only watch its food being taken away and resign itself to hunting again.
This time was no exception. Sister Leopard bit the gazelle to death and did not dare to stop for a moment. She climbed up the nearest tree with the food in her mouth.
Before Sister Leopard could climb up the tree, her second brother from Africa, who was keeping a close eye on her, had already come running over following the scent.
Yu Yiyun saw a hyena from afar and was so scared that he ran away immediately, fearing that he would be taken as prey by his second brother who ate both meat and vegetables.
Hyenas are one of the most resilient animals on the African continent and have a lot of bad reputations.
Many animal-themed films often portray them as sinister and dirty villains.
In fact, although the hyena’s name contains the word “dog”, it does not belong to the Canidae family, but is closer to the Felidae family.
They have very strong hunting abilities and are one of the few groups on the African continent that can hunt African buffalo.
Even a single hyena is more than enough to deal with a lion cub or a cheetah.
It has the strongest bite force in the entire African continent, even stronger than an adult lion.
No matter what kind of beast you compete with for food, you always have the upper hand.
The hyena ran in hastily with a clear goal in mind, heading straight for the cheetah's food, not even paying attention to the little white lion running away.
It came under the tree and circled it several times.
The cheetah had hung the gazelle on a tree and was enjoying its hard-earned prey.
Hyenas cannot climb trees. In most cases, when cheetahs hang up food, hyenas can only stare blankly.
Unfortunately, Sister Leopard is unlucky today.
The tree chosen was too short.
Hyenas cannot climb trees, but they have a physique similar to that of dogs and climbing abilities similar to those of cats.
The spotted hyena was seen with its front legs resting on the tree trunk, supporting its body with its two hind legs, and stretching its neck to reach the gazelle's hooves.
The cheetah realized that something was wrong and planned to move the prey to a higher branch.
As a result, as soon as it stood up, the prey fell down due to gravity.
The hyena seized the opportunity, bit the gazelle and started pulling with all its might.
Of course the cheetah refused to surrender, and immediately started a tug-of-war with the cheetah in the tree.
Yu Yiyun sighed silently and sympathized with the cheetah for three seconds.
It looks like they are engaged in a tug of war, but in fact, when the hyena bites the food, the outcome is already decided.
What’s more…
"Mo——"
While the hyena is pulling its prey, it emits a long sound from its nose to call nearby companions.
Cheetahs are solitary cats and will not have help from other cats.
But hyenas are different.
Hyenas on the African grasslands often live in large family groups consisting of dozens or even hundreds of members.
They are extremely united. As long as they hear their companions calling, nearby hyenas will immediately come to help.
Sure enough, as soon as the hyena finished speaking, two or three responses came from nearby.
The cheetah was very angry, but he also knew that the game was over.
It had no choice but to tear off a piece of meat reluctantly and give most of the prey to the brutal robber.
The hyena got the prey, made a sound of victory and reunited with his companions, still not noticing the little white lion next to it.
The cheetah, having worked in vain, climbed down the tree with the little meat in its mouth and silently glanced at Yu Yiyun who was watching the whole process.
Compared to a pack of hyenas, Yu Yiyun is not too afraid of leopards, which are also members of the cat family.
Although lions and leopards are mortal enemies, they treat each other's cubs as prey.
But cheetahs are smaller in size, with a female cheetah weighing less than 100 kilograms, and an eight-month-old lion cub is almost as big as two of them.
If pushed to the limit, Yu Yiyun can use her ultimate move - I'll sit on you and wash you!
After meeting many leopards, he knew that most of them were aloof and aloof, with a bit of the attitude of "I won't offend any other animal unless it offends me."
The leopard in front of us lives on the outskirts of the lion group. Apart from occasional food grabbing, there are not many conflicts.
Yu Yiyun moved forward two meters stealthily, just like when he approached Aunt Mulan, and slowly closed in on a safe distance.
When the two cats were more than 200 meters apart, the beautiful big leopard took action first, walked over and threw the meat in its mouth to the little white lion.
Yu Yiyun's eyes lit up:?!
Is there such a good thing?
The beautiful cheetah came over and sniffed the little white lion, showing no hostility. Instead, it crouched with its paws retracted, silently staring at him eating, like a big cat protecting its cub.
Yu Yijun was stunned for a long time before gradually reacting.
Cheetahs are different from other cats in that they have a habit of "picking up other people's cubs".
Photographers often capture lactating cheetahs adopting cubs that are not related to them.
Yu Yiyun smelled the scent of milk on Baobao and realized that it was in the lactation period.
The survival rate of cubs of big cats is equally low.
It is not known whether its cub died unfortunately or was eaten by hyenas.
The female cheetah stared at the little white lion that suddenly appeared and felt that his round ears and big watery eyes were quite pleasing.
Except for the fact that he has no spots on his body, he looks almost the same as me.
Anyway, the meat in my mouth is not enough to fill me up, so I have to go hunting again. I might as well pick up a cub to raise.
They are all cats anyway, so why not raise one?
At the same time, the photographers who were following the cheetah from a distance were all so shocked that they couldn't close their mouths.
"Oh! Look! There's a little lion next to Lightning!"
"This is the first time I've seen a white lion with such pure color. Which lion group is it from?"
"It should be the Tommy pride. A few months ago, my colleague who was in charge of filming the lions said that the Tommy pride had a pure white cub as its newborn cub."
"The white lion is so cute! But why did he leave Tommy's pride?"
"Tommy's lion group has a new lion king, and the little lion escaped. This is normal. What I am most concerned about now is, is Electric Light going to raise the little lion?"
"No, dear Lightning! I know that the death of two litters of cubs in succession was a big blow to you, and I also know that you tried to steal the cubs of another female leopard two days ago and failed. But it was a lion! Wake up!"
"I must tell you, it's not one, it's two. Look, the little white lion brought his brothers here, and Lightning accepted them and is planning to hunt for the new children."
After confirming that there were two more male lion cubs around the cheetah, there was great silence in the camera car.
I have seen many cheetahs adopting cubs, but this is the first time I have seen one adopt a lion cub.
To make matters worse, photographers know about the cheetah, which definitely has the highest hunting success rate in the entire grassland, almost reaching more than 50%.
Whether running or biting, he is so handsome.
However, judging from its thin and light body, it is the one with the highest probability of being bullied and targeted for food in the entire grassland.
In addition to the abundant food, hyenas, lions and leopards are willing to hunt in their own season, otherwise it will be difficult for them to fully enjoy their prey.
Under the pressure of survival, Dian Guang can only hunt every day to make his hunting skills more perfect.
Sometimes, it even hunts twice a day.
Even so, it is still difficult to get enough food.
There were more than two groups of robbers waiting to steal its food.
Last week, Electric Light completed two hunts in one day in order to raise his cubs.
The photographer who was following the leopard was confident that since the female leopard worked so hard, her cubs would definitely not die again.
As a result, not only were the preys stolen twice, but when they returned to the nest, only a few pools of blood were left at the hidden cave entrance.
None of her second litter survived.
Not to mention Dian Guang who suffered a huge blow, even the photographer was so angry that he couldn't sit still and wanted to break the rules to help Dian Guang.
After that, Dian Guang was depressed for several days, and even secretly followed a mother leopard raising her cubs, intending to steal the cubs of other animals and bring them to his own den.
Once, Lightning almost got the claw, but gave up.
She couldn't protect the food, nor could she protect her cubs.
Lightning would be even more sad if he killed the cubs of other animals.
Wild animals spend their entire lives running for food and have no time to heal their wounds.
The brave Electric Light picked himself up again and started hunting again, ready to raise the next litter of cubs at any time.
However, before it could send a signal to the male cheetah, it first encountered two homeless lion cubs.
Lightning circled around the little lion, which was sturdier than itself, and wagged its tail happily.
I can’t let this big cub die!
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