Raise your hand if Disney’s The Lion King hadn’t inspired you the eagerness for your first safari when you were a child.
This majestic cartoon, also a movie now, has been a true innovation. For the first time, it has been a story both for children and adults. The “Circle of Life” message introduced the value of the balance in the ecosystem. At the same time, wildlife behavior has been humanized far less than we were used to seeing at that time.
The Lion King story displays the ethereal battle of Good against Evil through the actions of its characters.
Let’s try now to read the message according to today’s information about climate evolution and changes in safari countries, and the Ethology of iconic African wildlife. We have thus to find the answer to these questions.
What do we know today about climate evolution in the sub-Saharan regions?
The rain deals the seasons in these areas of our planet. The rainy season, also called the “green” or “emerald” season, brings water and grass, feeding wild hoofed (wildebeests, zebras, antelope, etc.) and cattle. It’s the season of abundance.
The dry season, for wildlife and local communities, is definitely complicated. The “dry land” increases its extension. Water is limited and localized in a few ponds and rivers, where all the animals, prey and predators, wild and cattle, compete for the territory, the hunting field, the survival.
This drama, on the opposite, is perfect for safari tourism. Trees and bushes have no leaves to hide animals. And, wildlife concentrates in a few freshwater areas, where patient travelers may witness the action.
The immense herd of running wildebeests we can see in The Lion King is the yearly Great Migration. It’s an almost-circular path in the Serengeti (Tanzania) and Masai Mara (Kenya) ecosystems, along with millions of wildebeests and zebras walk following a climate circle that provides rain and grass, their food.
Where dams are built, they change the natural cycle of water.
So which is the advantage of dams? First, they mitigate the peaks of drought and floods, devastating both rural communities and animals and, with proper channels, regularly supply water to villages and agriculture.
Sometimes, they create lakes, new water reservoirs that can develop new ecosystems with birds and fishes, and succeed in local fishing micro-economies.
Which is the disadvantage? It’s hard to dimension dams properly because they are built according to the average historical rain and water data, guessing nature will always follow a similar behavior. But, as we know, nature sometimes is crazy and does not cooperate with the predictions. When this is the case, the solution is a bit far from perfect.
Do animals and wildlife have good or evil behaviors?
The answer is not simple. For sure, it’s not correct to assign them our actual human feelings, mainly because they live in an environment that is very different from our everyday life.
Scientists are used to saying that animals mostly react to stimulations. Stimulus A produces reaction B, and so on. As much as one species has a more evolved brain or social evolution, the reactions are more complex and articulated. The main stimulations are hunger, fear, protection of the species, reproduction. Same as humans, you can say. However, they don’t have all the existing economic and juridical infrastructures that provide food, even to those not hunters or farmers, a shelter, without being themselves builders, a mate, without the need for a bloody fight. Humans have good behaviors when they comply with the social cooperation rules that overlook their lives.
Life for wildlife is more simple even if far more hard. Every day, survival needs a bloody fight. I have seen a pack of painted dogs killing an impala and eating it when still alive. Is this evil? No, because in less than 5 minutes from the killing, a hyena was ready to still their food. The same food they will regurgitate to feed their pups hidden far away in the den.
Each pride of lions has a dominant male with his wives, daughters, subadult males, and cubs. Where are all the other males? They are wandering alone, or in 2 or 3-male coalitions, hunting with fewer chances of a full pride. Often it happens, a lonely, strong, and brave young male challenges a dominant lion in a furious battle for the supremacy of the pride. Once the young and stronger male overcomes the old guy, his first action is to ensure the supremacy of his bloodline in the new pride, killing the younger cubs and getting the lionesses in estrus again as soon as possible. Is it cruel? Yes, it is, but from our human point of view only. Not really for the pride, which now has a new younger and stronger dominant male, patrolling and protecting their hunting territory, ensuring the family more food, and more chances for survival.
Can a wise monkey guide other species?
In Swahili, the native language of the African Great Lakes Region, Rafiki means “friend”. This monkey is one of the iconic characters of “The Lion King” story, whose intensity is enhanced perfectly by Elton John’s songs. This primate is inspired by a male Mandrill, a monkey who lives in tropical rainforests of Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Congo, and it’s unlikely to see them in savannahs. However, this beautiful and colored creature is the central thread of the whole story.
The shaman is a pretty common figure in several cultures, which have similar spiritual and behavioral guides. Rafiki reminds us of the ancestral traditions of Southern Africa tribes, thus also of North American Natives, Amazon Tribes, Australian Aborigines, and many other ethnic groups who keep a deep connection between their everyday life and the surrounding nature. African wildlife does not have similar spiritual guides. However, often they create coalitions with different species. We saw elephants, zebras, and impalas sharing the small area below the same tree: elephants were eating the leaves and flowers, shaking branches. From the very same high branches, zebras and impalas fed themselves with the sweet fallen flowers.
Egrets and oxpeckers are birds that eat bugs, and buffalos, giraffes, and hippos very much appreciate their jobs. Even lizards attempt to feed themselves with flies that buzz around the dry blood on lions’ fur. However, they wisely prefer to do it in the sunny hours, when lions are asleep. Baboons, vervet monkeys, and birds can spot predators easily while standing on tall trees. All surrounding animals identify their alarm calls and get alert immediately. Also, eternal enemies, like lions and buffalos, in extreme conditions, agree for few minutes in a truce, and in the dry season, share the same waterhole to quench their thirst. Of course, only when the belly of predators is fed fully.
What’s lovely funny in the wild?
Let’s talk about Timon and Pumbaa characters. Usually, you find warthogs alone or females with babies, while meerkats live in communities. You can find pictures of one single warthog with one meerkat, like the Timon and Pumbaa, lonely wondering friends. It can happen since they share the same ecosystem; however, thinking about a human-like friendship relationship between these two single individuals is difficult.
I don’t know if “funny“ is something that wildlife identity in their own behavior. But, for sure, it is a human feature we often witnessed during our safaris. Mostly with youngs. The jumping jokes of young impalas, little baboons chasing each other, the charge of a “tiny” baby elephant, the fight of predator cubs and pups, the uncertain first steps of a newborn giraffe. All of them will make you smile.
The first time I saw a hornbill, the name Zazu came naturally to me. These beautiful birds are spotted pretty commonly in African safari countries. They approach very confidently, and their impressive beak, which is oversized if compared with the dimension of the bird, makes them very funny indeed.
What’s Beauty in the wild?
“Scar” is another key character in “The Lion King”. In our culture, we are used, in a pseudoscientific physiognomy misconception, to associate Beauty with Good and Scar or Hugely with Evil. However, when you look at a handsome, beautiful, and perfect male lion, this guy lives in a zoo. He has never had to fight for his food or his brides, and his face is perfect. Male lions in the wild all look like Scar. Aren’t they handsome? Yes, they are. However, we have to look at them from a lioness’s point of view: is he strong enough to properly patrol the borders of our land and keep away other predators? Is he able to protect our cubs and his pride?
Hyenas are not the most good-looking animals, and the name itself has a bad connotation. However, they have a super structured pack organization, and, in the ecosystem of the bush, their role as scavengers is essential. They primarily feed dead organisms that have died for causes other than their predation. They “clean” the savannah from carcasses, serving as a natural sanitation service, reducing diseases associated with body decomposition. In one of our safaris, we witnessed a leopard hunting and killing an impala. After feeding himself for hours, the leopard left, and the same carcass has been food for vultures first, and at the end, for a hyena, whose jaws are so strong she can even break and eat bones to reach the mallow. As a matter of fact, their feces are so rich in calcium from the bones, their color is grayish, sometimes even white.
At the end of the story, the beauty in the wild is survival.
Wilderness is a super delicate and complex balance that involves climate, land management, government regulations, local communities, and anti-poaching. Therefore, aware tourism is a key economic component in conservation. At v-adventures, we are committed to educating our traveler guests to respect, protect, and support the “Circle of Life” for the generation to come.
Scientists and on-site researchers are the real experts on these topics, and all the above are only thoughts at v-adventures we build based on our studies and observations during our 30-year self-drive safaris. Last but other least, the magic evenings we shared with experienced local guides telling their stories of life in the bush, around the campfire.
Now, we are looking forward to hearing your thoughts and sharing our Lion King safaris with you.
2 Replies to “Beyond “The Lion King””
Another excellent read Valentina and very informational!
Thanks, Jeremy.
At v-adventures we want to engage our friends in all the aspects of their safari experience. And, conservation is paramount.