Two lion brothers just lately swam farther than another lion on document. They swam almost a mile (1.5 kilometers) throughout the Kazinga Channel in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth Nationwide Park. A drone recorded the unimaginable feat, made immensely extra unimaginable when you think about that one of many lions solely has three legs. Oh sure, and the water was teeming with crocodiles and hippos.
The lion brothers didn’t take such a large swim calmly. In accordance with New Scientist, they bailed on three earlier makes an attempt to cross earlier than they succeeded on the fourth try. The 2 lions look tiny on the drone footage in contrast the the large measurement of the channel, however they’re not the one little dots within the water. The opposite animals current within the channel are possible Nile crocodiles and/or hippos—each formidable foes for a lion on the aquatic animals’ turf.
Whereas it appears tough sufficient to swim that far by means of enemy territory, think about doing it with solely three limbs. At one level in his life, one of many lions (referred to as Jacob by researchers) misplaced a leg after changing into caught in a poacher’s lure. However that didn’t cease Jacob from making the cross together with his brother.
And that brings us to the large query: Why did these lions undertake such a harmful crossing? For the women, after all. At the very least, that’s what researchers think. They possible heard the women’ name from throughout the channel and got here working—or, uh, swimming.
Watch clips of the three-legged lion and his brother cross the Kazinga Channel right here: