"Heart of a Lioness" Transcript, continued

inuyasha_crazie: If the oryx baby sees that the lioness eats his/her kind, wouldn't it be in shock or run away?

Saba Douglas-Hamilton: It never happened. However, Kamunyak distinguished between oryx calves, which she saw as child, and all other antelope species, which she saw as prey. On the occasion we saw her with oryx, we did not see her hunt.

horakhti73: 1. How did you get started in this field? 2. I noticed a lot of flies around Kamunyak's face and neck. What's the deal with that? 3. Can you tell us more about how local Kenyans reacted to this phenomenon? 4. What typically happens to a lioness when she loses her pride?

Saba Douglas-Hamilton: 1. See my Web site, www.kamunyak.com.

2. Lions are plagued by insects. We wondered at the time if she might be producing more than usual of a particular pheromone, but I think it had more to do with the time of year and the weather — there were a lot of flies around. On other occasions, she had no flies on her at all.

3. Even today, three years down the line, Kamunyak is seen as a symbol of peace. Shortly before our last election, politicians stood up in Parliament and said, "If traditional enemies like the lion and the oryx can be friends, so we too can work together."

4. When a lioness loses her pride, she loses everything. Pride mates help you defend territory, which gives you access to prey. They help you hunt, and they help defend cubs. In some other parts of Africa, scientists have noticed on occasion that a solitary lioness will be accepted into a pride of unrelated lions. However, this has more to do with whether or not there are enough females in the area to feed the needs of the pride rather than compassion. On most occasions, a solitary lioness will remain alone until she dies, unless she is able to raise cubs on her own — which is very difficult.

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