On an early morning in February 2016, we had just begun our game drive when we came across a pride of 5 young female lions feasting on a wildebeest. Unfortunately, we did not see the actual kill take place. We stopped our vehicle right in front of the action, and I took this series of pictures. (I actually took 160 pictures of the action, but these will suffice.)
We watched the lions feeding from 6:39am until 7:05am, about 25 minutes. The number of lions feeding at any given time varied from 3 to 5. A lion would leave, and a lion would join. Perhaps there were no more than 5 lions, but I wasn't keeping track of which lions were coming and going because I was focused on watching the feeding. The pictures are in chronological order along with the date stamps.
The first picture below shows that the action took place in a dense scrub area of the Serengeti. In the background are a number of acacia trees that are so common on the Serengeti.
6:39:54am The dead wildebeest is surrounded by four female lions
6:40:05am The lion that was standing in the previous picture has walked in front of the wildebeest
6:41:31am The standing lion has walked out of the scene, leaving three lionesses at the site
6:42:12am I zoomed in on the three lions around the kill. The lions have eaten the meat off one of the hind legs on the right.
6:42:21am The lion on the right in the previous picture is about to start feeding on the rump of the kill
6:42:24am And, this lion is now eating at the rump
6:42:50am Here, she's moved to the front. Is she licking her chops?
6:43:33am A fourth lion has moved in from the right and is gnawing on a leg
6:44:24am The front lion is moving around. The left two lions are now attacking the side of the kill
6:44:41am The lion that was in the front has walked around the back and is now on the left
6:44:45am A lion is moving in from the right, in the back. There are now 5 lions around the kill
6:44:55am The lion on the far left is now lying down, and the newcomer, second from the right, is now feeding
6:45:52am The lion on the far left gets up and walk out of the picture. There are now 4 lions feeding on the kill
6:48:15am The lion on the left has shifted position and is now under a front leg of the wildebeest
6:50:05am The lion on the left has stood up and is, apparently, feeding on the wildebeest's belly
6:50:07am We can see part of the face of one of the lions in the back
6:52:49am The lions are all over the kill
6:53:03am We can clearly see the face of the lion second from the left
6:55:06 The lion in the back on the right is moving out of the picture, leaving 3 lions around the kill
6:55:23am All three lions are feeding now
7:00:29am The lion that was on the far right has moved in front and is licking her paws
7:01:17am A fourth lion has joined the group - perhaps one of the lions that left earlier
7:01:31am She's grabbed a hold of the wildebeest by the throat
7:01:33am All four lions are now focused on the kill
7:01:40am And, three of the lions start dragging the kill
7:04:16am Here we can see that the lions have devoured the innards of the wildebeest
7:04:17am This is the last picture in the series
The lions dragged their kill into the brush. We waited around for a few minutes, but it was clear that the action was pretty much over. So, we moved on - looking for more game and more action!
Vivian Nagy, February 2016