Into The Pride

Nature Documentary

Discovery Channel / Magna Home Entertainment

R4 DVD

Erindi is a huge game park in Namibia. It depends on tourism to keep going. When a group of rogue lions was relocated into the park the trouble started. The pride of lions had a fear of humans resulting from being hunted and having their natural rangelands enclosed for farming. They had turned to killing cattle to replace the animals no longer available to them. Erindi was their last chance and they were proving antisocial even there. They had no tolerance of tourists and sooner or later a visitor would be killed. This would be detrimental to the park (and the tourist). Somehow they had to be not so much tamed as quieted and taught not to fear humans in their new environment. The park owners turned to big cat specialist Dave Salmoni.

Normally I can’t stand idiots like Bear Grylls who put themselves in danger, I suspect for the ego trip. Salmoni could so easily be one of these showmen but he has a somewhat more rational approach that I found more interesting. He decided that if one man could live around the cats for a while and gradually be accepted on their terms they might be more willing to accept groups of tourists as something more than a meal. Salmoni knew the cats were dangerous so his plan was to be cautious and not threatening. In spite of this he still seems to have gone in a little unprepared. Different cats have different personalities and a clear plan could not be worked out until he worked out their personalities.

His first job was to find out about the animals. He gave them names, a habit I hate but which helps with identification throughout the series. The alpha male he named Brutus. His smaller brother was Otis. The two females were Cleopatra (the dominant female) and Winnie. Both females had a pair of cubs.

Brutus turned out to be the easiest to win over. A bit of token growling and a halfhearted charge seemed to convince him that Dave was not a competitor and they came to tolerate each other. Cleopatra, however, was a different matter. She was aggressive and appeared to hate Dave on sight. She would move between him and the cubs. Charges were frequent. As the lead hunter she had probably been the most at risk from farmers and was therefore the most intolerant. The others didn’t seem to care much one way or the other and tolerated Dave as he gradually approached closer. A quick growl would tell him he had come close enough and he learnt the signals quickly.

He won the confidence of the cubs by giving them a large ball to play with, and one of his shirts that smelled of lion and heaven knows what else. They soon associated him with lion smell and seemed quite fearless around him. Cleo, however, was not won over by this approach.

Dave sometimes goes off into an introspective mood where he describes his feelings of frustration. He only had six months to settle the lions or they would be put down as dangerous. He takes the assignment very personally and he obviously loves the big cats. He is almost in tears when his aging friend Brutus is beaten in a fight for dominance by Otis. He knows Brutus is dying and will probably not live much longer.

The documentary is an insight into the cats’ mentality. I have to put it down as a worthy project because the traditional human instinct is kill a big animal before it kills you. Dave has shown what a bit if understanding can do. On both sides. If we are to see the big cats continue a life in the wild this understanding will be needed.

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