You must have heard many unique stories of love that someone gave up his life for love, someone crossed mountains. But all these are human stories. Have you ever heard that an animal has risked its life to get its lover? But this is true and two lions took such a risk. The special thing is that these are lions of a rare species. Due to illegal hunting, the population of Panthera species of lions has almost halved in just five years.
In search of the love of the lionesses, two lions not only swam across the world’s most dangerous river, but also crossed dense forests and high mountains. These lions swam across an African river full of hippos and crocodiles for 1.3 kilometers. With this courage, the record of the longest swim of African lions was created. Both the lions are said to be brothers. One of this pair of lion brothers is known to have survived many dangerous incidents. Scientists named him Jacob and have declared this lion a hero.
According to the authors of the study published in the journal ‘Ecology and Evolution’, after facing stiff competition for the lionesses and losing the battle for the female’s affection in the hours before the swim, the two lions decided to embark on the dangerous journey as they were likely to find the lioness on the other side of the river.
Those involved in the study used drone cameras to film the lions moving through Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda before crossing the Kazinga Channel.
Alexander Braczkowski, author of the study from Griffith University in Australia, said the African lion they were looking at faced the most risk. He was attacked by a buffalo. His family was poisoned for the trade of lion body parts. He was caught in poachers’ traps and eventually lost a leg in a poaching incident. His leg was caught in a steel trap.
A video footage related to the study shows Jacob limping through the national park and showing his brother Tibu the way before reaching the river.
The two lions started walking along the water’s edge and entered the water on February 1, 2024. They can be seen making three attempts to cross the channel, swimming a certain distance each time before encountering a danger or an animal or a strong current and then being forced to go back to the shore. But in the fourth attempt, the two brothers managed to swim across the river and reached the Katungurru area of the park on February 4. This swimming of lions in search of mates and habitat is a major example of their population.
Braczkowski said Jacob and Tibu’s big swim is another example of how some of our most beloved wildlife species are having to make difficult decisions about where to find habitat and mates in a human-dominated world.
Tags: Amazing news, love story
FIRST PUBLISHED : July 11, 2024, 19:22 IST
