Have you ever watched an NFL game where the ball handler rocks back and forth, unbelievably dodging a group of extremely talented defenders?
Well, that’s nothing compared to a lion dodging a charge.
Lions run at top speeds of 50 miles per hour, second only to cheetahs. A gazelle rivals a lion at top speed, but it moves much more nimbly.
Gazelles can also outrun lions over long distances, which is part of the reason why lions need to be sneaky, explosive, and decisive.
What happened in the video?
© iStock.com/StuPorts
We’ll see videos of lions being outwitted by gazelles. However, there is more to the story.
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In the footage, the impressive movements of the gazelle almost match the deft and calculated movements of the lioness.
The scene we’re about to see takes place in the Masai Mara, a huge national game reserve in Kenya. It begins with a hungry lioness crouching invisibly in a patch of bushes. Take a moment to appreciate how well she’s disguised in a place where there seems to be nowhere to hide.
Her body didn’t move. She sat motionless for a while, and she didn’t know how long she sat there before shooting started. The clip pops forward and we see her head has started to lift.
The camera pans to the right, and we finally see what she’s looking at: a gazelle foraging. The lioness moves forward slightly, then returns to a crouch, this time with her hind legs firmly planted on the ground so she can leap forward at the right moment.
She jumped up, slowed down, and camouflaged forward at a steady pace until the gazelle finally noticed. As the gazelle reacted and sprinted to the left, the lioness used her 300-pound body to lunge forward.
The agile mind of a gazelle
The first thing to note about a gazelle is that it doesn’t look at a lioness. It sensed her coming, and galloped away. This was the first mind-boggling thing the gazelle did.
If it wants to see the lioness, it will be caught. Then, when it hits full speed, it bursts. Then left, then right.
The gazelles cut back and forth every three or four strides, throwing the lioness away with misdirection. This worked so well that the lioness flinched after the third mislead.
These split-second decisions are what separate survivors in the wild. The lion does pretty much everything right, but the gazelle is just as capable of defending itself with its speed and agility.
If the gazelle can survive the first moment, it has a chance of surviving. Lions and lionesses are extremely fast, but they cannot change direction or accelerate as quickly as gazelles.
This means that gazelles almost always win in the open field, while lions can do a lot of damage if they use the element of surprise.
I am broadly interested in how human activities influence the ability of wildlife to persist in the modified environments that we create.
Specifically, my research investigates how the configuration and composition of landscapes influence the movement and population dynamics of forest birds. Both natural and human-derived fragmenting of habitat can influence where birds settle, how they access the resources they need to survive and reproduce, and these factors in turn affect population demographics. Most recently, I have been studying the ability of individuals to move through and utilize forested areas which have been modified through timber harvest as they seek out resources for the breeding and postfledging phases. As well I am working in collaboration with Parks Canada scientists to examine in the influence of high density moose populations on forest bird communities in Gros Morne National Park. Many of my projects are conducted in collaboration or consultation with representatives of industry and government agencies, seeking to improve the management and sustainability of natural resource extraction.
