1
The Deportation Order
It was on Christmas Eve 1960 that we received a letter
from the African District Council ordering us to remove Elsa
and her cubs from the reserve. The reason given by the
council was that since Elsa was used to our company she might
become a danger to other people.
We were amazed; the local authorities themselves had
helped us to choose the area for her release, and up to now
had regarded her as a great asset to the reserve. It had been
her home for two and a half years, and during that time she
had never hurt anyone. We were as anxious as they were to
avoid the possibility of an accident, and had even offered to
pay a good rent for Elsa's territory, so that visitors could
be kept out of it without financial loss to the game reserve.
Now, with the arrival of the deportation order, all we
could do was to try to make this removal as little harmful to
the lions as possible and find a satisfactory new home for
them.
We wrote to friends in Tanganyika, Uganda; the Rhodesias
and South Africa, inquiring what the chances were of finding
a good territory for the family in their countries, but,
before finally deciding to remove Elsa and her family from
Kenya, George wished to carry out a reconnaissance along the
eastern shores of Lake Rudolf in the north of Kenya.
I was distressed by this plan. The country there is very
grim, and I feared that game around the lake might be so
scarce that Elsa and the cubs would become dependent upon us
for their food supply. Besides this, the area is so remote
that in case of an emergency we should be very lucky if we
were able to get any help. On the other hand, this very
remoteness was an asset, for the fact that this country is
inhospitable and almost cut off from the rest of Africa would
at least ensure that the lions would be unlikely to become a
pawn in political intrigues.
So, while we waited for replies to our letters, we made
provisional plans for their removal to Lake Rudolf. We
estimated that the journey would take two or three days and
nights: we knew that the tracks would be very rough and that
we should need to tow the cars through sandy river-beds,
stretches of desert and over rocky escarpments.
When we had first moved Elsa to her release point, we had
used a tranquillizer which proved too strong for her. Now she
and her cubs had to make a long journey, we might again need
tranquillizers. I therefore wrote to vets in Kenya, England,
and the United States to get advice as to which was
considered the safest for lions. We knew that we would have
to give the drugs by mouth, at least to the cubs, who were
too wild to allow us to use a hypodermic syringe. With this
in mind, we decided that we must at once accustom them to
feeding in a confined space. This would make it possible for
us, later on, to control the amount of food and with it the
dose which each cub got.
To make the experiment we would first build a ramp and
then place a five-ton lorry against it so that its floor was
level with the top of the ramp; in the lorry we would place
the lions' dinner. Once the cubs had got used to their new
feeding place we could built a strong wire enclosure over the
lorry and make a trap door to it, which we would close when
the cubs were feeding, thus converting the lorry into a
travelling crate.
We dug the ramp at the salt-lick near the studio. My heart
was heavy as I watched the cubs; they were excited by the
unusual activities taking place on their playground, sniffed
the freshly dug soil curiously, found it great fun to roll on
the earth, and seemed to think that all this work was being
done to amuse them.
On 28th December George left camp and after a few days at
Isiolo started off on the recce to Lake Rudolf. That
afternoon I met the family near the river, and after the
usual friendly greetings from Elsa and Jespah, we went
together to the water's edge. The cubs plunged in at once,
ducking and chasing each other; Elsa and I watched them from
the bank. While they were in the river she guarded them in a
dignified manner, but when they emerged dripping wet she
joined in their games and helped them to look for a new
playground. A nearby tree provided what was needed; the cubs
struggled up its trunk but were soon overtaken by their
mother, who in a few swift movements leapt high above them. I
gasped as she went higher and higher, the slender upper
branches bending alarmingly beneath her weight; finally she
reached the crown of the tree. What, I wondered, was she
doing? Teaching her children the proper way to climb trees,
or just showing off? When she found that the boughs were no
longer strong enough to support her, she turned with great
difficulty and, cautiously testing each branch, began her
descent. She managed to make her way down but her landing was
by no means dignified, then, as though to suggest that the
tumble was a joke, she at once began to jump around the cubs.
They chased her, and all the way home played games of
hide-and-seek or ambushes, in which I was often the victim.
Next day, at tea-time, Elsa showed me very clearly what a
wonderful mother and companion she was to her cubs. The
family appeared on the far bank of the river opposite the
studio. I had seen a six-foot crocodile slither into the
river at their approach and was therefore not surprised when
the cubs paced nervously up and down the rocky platform by
the river's edge, obviously frightened to jump into the deep
pool beneath.
Elsa licked each in turn, then they all plunged in
together and swam safely across in close formation. When the
cubs relaxed and began to chase each other so as to get dry,
Elsa joined in. She took Jespah's tail in her mouth and
walked round in circles with him, obviously enjoying the
clowning as much as he did.
Eventually Jespah sat down close to me, turning his back
to me. This he did when he wanted to be petted; he seemed to
realize that I was always a little afraid of being
accidentally scratched by him because, unlike his mother, he
had not learnt to retract his claws when playing with human
beings.
When I went for an afternoon stroll, the lions joined me;
I welcomed this new habit of a family walk; it gave me a
chance to observe the cubs' reactions to everything we met on
our way and also allowed me to spend more time with Elsa, of
whose company I had been to a considerable extent deprived
since the birth of the cubs. When we reached the Big Rock,
Gopa and Little Elsa stayed behind; I tried to induce them to
follow us but they would not. Elsa walked along as if she
knew that no harm would come to them. She had lately kept her
children on a longer leash and did not seem to worry when
they showed independence. Jespah, however, was plainly very
anxious; he ran backwards and forwards between us and only
eventually and with reluctance decided to follow his mother
and me.
We walked for about two miles; when it grew cooler, Elsa
and Jespah began to play; it was very funny to see each
trying to outwit the other as they gambolled about like
kittens.
On our way back I saw Gopa and Little Elsa on a rocky
outcrop of the main ridge, silhouetted against a magnificent
sunset. They watched me aloofly as I passed below them. Elsa
and Jespah climbed to the top of the Big Rock and called
softly. Lazily the two cubs stretched and yawned and then
joined their mother. All through the evening I waited with a
carcase, but there was no sign of Elsa or of the cubs. Late
at night I heard the whuffings of the cubs' father which
explained their absence. Next morning, to make sure that all
was well, I went with Nuru to the rock; at the base we found
the spoor of a large lion.
For two days Elsa and the cubs kept away from the camp,
and during this time I repeatedly heard their father roaring.
When Elsa returned it was late in the evening. Only her sons
were with her, but she did not seem perturbed at Little
Elsa's absence, and after a large meal they all went back to
the rock.
Early next morning I followed up their spoor until I saw
Gopa and Little Elsa on the rock; then, assuming that their
father might be nearby, I went home.
Later in the afternoon the whole family appeared along the
road. Gopa and Little Elsa were panting; they had been
chasing a jackal which I had heard calling some way off.
While Elsa greeted me, I signalled to Nuru to return to camp
and prepare a carcase, but Jespah decided that Nuru was to
play hide-and-seek with him and, until his mother intervened,
Nuru had to use all his wits to dodge the cub. Elsa then took
her offspring in hand, played with them and kept them busy
until Nuru's task was accomplished; she so often acted in
this way that it was impossible not to conclude that she did
so deliberately. When we arrived in camp, the cubs pounced on
their dinner, but their mother seemed to be very nervous and
after several short reconnaissances disappeared into the
bush, leaving them behind.
On the first of January I felt very apprehensive. What
would the New Year bring? As if to cheer me up, Jespah came
close and, taking up his 'safety position' (i.e. the one that
ensured my safety from his claws), invited me to play with
him. I stroked him affectionately, but suddenly he rolled
over and instinctively I jerked back. He looked bewildered,
then again rolled into his safety position and tilted his
head. Plainly he could not understand my fear of his
unretracted claws; repeatedly he invited me to play with him,
and I wished I could explain to him that when his mother was
a tiny cub I had been able to teach her to control her claws,
and that was why I could play with her fearlessly, but not
with him.
The following day the same thing happened: Jespah wanted a
game and I wanted to play with him, but when I came within
reach of his claws I was obliged to break off. Elsa watched
the scene from the top of the Land-Rover. She seemed to be
aware of Jespah's disappointment at my cautious behaviour,
for she came down and licked and hugged her son until he was
happy again. Meanwhile Little Elsa sneaked around nervously,
hiding in the grass and obviously too frightened by my
presence to come out into the open. Elsa went over to her and
roiled about with her until she too was quite at her ease.
When Jespah and Gopa joined in the fun Elsa retired to her
sanctuary on top of the Land-Rover; I went up to her,
intending to stroke her to make up for the apparent
unfriendliness I had shown towards her son; but when I
approached she spanked me, and during the whole of that
evening she remained aloof.
On the 2nd of January, Ken Smith and Peter Saw, both game
wardens from adjoining districts, arrived in a lorry. They
had come with the consent of the Game Department to offer
their help in moving Elsa and the cubs. Ken took some
measurements for fitting the ramp to a four-wheel-drive
Bedford lorry belonging to the Government, which he proposed
to lend us for the move. He also offered to order a
lion-proof wire enclosure to fit it, and to send us our old
Thames lorry until the adjustments to the Bedford were
completed. This would make it possible for us to accustom the
cubs to feeding in a lorry with the minimum loss of time.
Ken had been on the lion hunt which brought Elsa into our
life and had visited her twice since then, but he had never
seen the cubs, so, after we had dealt with the measurements,
we all went off to look for the family. We found them in the
studio lugga ('lugga' is Somali for dry river bed), but at
the sight of two strangers the cubs bolted. Elsa greeted Ken
as an old friend, but paid no attention to Peter. She put up
with being photographed, but when our guests came close to
her, Jespah peeped anxiously through the foliage, obviously
prepared to defend his mother if the need arose. Eventually
he came into the open, though he kept at a safe distance from
Ken and Peter.
As we did not want to upset the cubs, we returned to camp
and sent the lorry a few hundred yards down the track. A
little later Elsa arrived alone. She watched us for some time
and then, still ignoring Peter, she gripped Ken firmly around
the knee with her paw; we guessed she wanted to show him that
she thought it was time for him to go. Ken took the hint and
they left, and immediately the cubs came bouncing along and
began to play. This showed us that they were becoming
increasingly shy of strangers. Jespah had overcome his
suspicion of George and myself, but he didn't trust anyone
else.
He showed his confidence in me on the following day, when
he allowed me to remove a tick from his eyelid and rid him
also of a couple of maggots. These pests are fairly common in
a low-lying, semi-desert country. The mango fly deposits her
eggs by preference in wet or at least damp places. Any animal
walking over or rolling on the spot may pick up the eggs,
which develop into tiny maggots.
After the skin has been perforated by a maggot, a swelling
the size of a cherry develops. When the maggot has grown to
about half an inch, it drops out through the hole made when
the skin was originally perforated; afterwards it develops
into a pupa and finally into the mango fly. The process of
development under the skin takes about ten days and during
the later stages is very irritating and painful to its host.
The animal tries to rid itself of the parasite by licking and
scratching the wound; thus usually infecting it. In Elsa's
case I sometimes found that her rough tongue removed the
maggot's protruding head, with the result that the body,
which remained under the skin, decomposed and caused sepsis.
I used to try to prevent this by pressing the maggot out as
soon as its head appeared. It was a rather disagreeable
process, but it spared her real pain and the risk of
infection later on. These maggots, which are found in great
numbers in most game animals, though themselves harmless,
weaken the condition of their host and render it susceptible
to other illnesses.
Jespah kept absolutely still while I attended to his
maggots, then he licked his wounds and placed himself in his
safety position, inviting me to pat him. For the first time,
he even allowed me to touch his silky nostrils; perhaps he
wanted to show me that he was grateful for my help.
That evening he came alone into the tent, squatted in his
safety position, and kept quite still until I stroked him.
His demands for affection posed a serious problem: I hated to
disappoint him hut, on the other hand, apart from my fear of
his claws, we wanted the cubs to develop into wild lions, and
Jespah's friendliness was already jeopardizing his future.
Gopa and little Elsa were different; their reactions were
always those of wild animals.
Jespah was the leader of the cubs. One afternoon I found
him in great distress; he was alone on the far bank of the
river, which the rest of the family had just crossed; he was
pacing up and down looking anxiously at the water, obviously
scared by the presence of a crocodile. I tried to help him by
throwing sticks and stones into the deep pool across which he
had to swim, but. he only pulled faces at the invisible
reptile. After a time, however, he made up his mind, plunged
in and swam as fast as he could, deliberately churning up the
water. Elsa, standing quite still a few yards off, had
watched my attempts to frighten the crocodile away. When
Jespah had landed safely, she came over and licked me
affectionately; he too was particularly friendly all that
afternoon.
In the evening. as we were walking up the narrow path to
the tents, Gopa ambushed me, growling savagely; I was quite
frightened, and could not think what had caused him to be so
cross, until I saw that he had taken his dinner to this spot,
and realized that when I passed within a few feet of the
'kill' he had felt obliged to defend it.
The next day the Thames lorry arrived. We gave it a
thorough wash and then parked it at the ramp, but it smelt of
petrol, oil and Africans, and nothing would persuade the cubs
to go near it. Even Elsa would not follow me into it,
although I tried every trick I could think of to persuade
her, in the belief that her example would encourage the cubs.
There was nothing to be done except to wail until the lions
had overcome their suspicion of the lorry and remind myself
that since the cubs so far had never been inside a vehicle I
was asking a lot of them.
On the 8th of January, about lunch-time, I heard the
excited chatter of baboons coming from the bank opposite the
studio. This usually meant that the family were around, so
later on I went to the studio lugga with my sketch-book. I
found Elsa and her sons there and, as they were very sleepy,
I had a splendid opportunity of drawing them. Poor Elsa was
infested with maggots, but when I had tried to squeeze them
out she flattened her ears and growled at me, so I was
obliged to leave her alone.
When it got dark and there was still no sign of Little
Elsa, I was anxious, but as her mother did not seem in the
least apprehensive I decided not to worry, for I had
discovered that Elsa's instinct was more reliable than mine.
I am convinced that when there was a source of danger in the
neighbourhood she had some means of sensing its presence, and
also that she had a way, a quite imperceptible way, of
transmitting her wishes to her cubs. We often watched
attentively for any indication of a visible or audible sign
of communication between her and her children, but were never
able to observe one. Yet she was able to make her cubs 'stay
put' in the most varied circumstances. She could sense the
presence of crocodiles under water, or of hidden beasts which
might be a source of danger to her family. She knew when we
arrived in camp, even if she were far away at the time, and
even if we had been absent for a very long time. She also
knew with unerring instinct whether the people she met
genuinely liked her or not, and this quite irrespective of
their behaviour towards her.
What faculty did she and other highly developed wild
animals possess which could account for this? I think perhaps
it is the power of telepathy, which we human beings too may
have possessed before we developed the capacity to speak.
When I had finished sketching, we all returned to camp,
and gave the lions their dinner. After the meal was over,
Elsa suddenly got up, listened intently in the direction of
the river, and began to walk towards it. I followed at a
short distance. We went along the bank for a while, then she
turned sharply, crossed the studio lugga, and crept on
through the bush till she reached the water's edge. I caught
up with her, and in the failing light was just able to see
Little Elsa pacing up and down on the far bank, evidently
frightened to enter the water, which was fairly deep at this
point and where more than once I had seen a large crocodile.
Elsa gave her low affectionate moan, moving quickly upstream
and keeping her eyes fixed on Little Elsa as she did so.
Along the opposite bank, the cub followed her. When they came
to a shallow part of the river, Elsa stopped and her call
changed, and finally her daughter plucked up enough courage
to swim across.
By then it was nearly dark and so as not to add to Little
Elsa's fears, I started to go home. To my surprise, when I
emerged from the thick bush, I found Jespah and Gopa
apparently waiting for the return of their mother and sister.
I took a short cut home so that the family could join up
without being disturbed by my presence. Later, Elsa came to
my tent and rubbed herself affectionately against me as if to
show me how happy she was to have all her family together
again and how pleased she was that the anxiety we had shared
was over.
But Elsa was to have another alarm before the day was
over. While she was still rubbing herself against me, she
suddenly stiffened and, her head level with her shoulders,
trotted off into the dark. She soon came back, but only to
rush off again. She did this several times until she finally
settled down to her evening meal with the cubs. Soon
afterwards I was startled by the roaring of the cubs' father
who can only have been about twenty yards away. I counted the
whuffs which followed his roar. There were twelve of them.
While this went on, his family stopped eating and stood
motionless between him and their dinner; they waited till he
had left before they started to eat again. During the night
they remained close to the camp, but went off early in the
morning and did not return for twenty-four hours. When they
came back we gave them some meat, but though the cubs dragged
it into the bush they did not eat it; instead, they joined
Elsa and myself at the salt-lick.
It was six days since we had placed the lorry by the ramp
and, so far as I could judge from the spoor, no lion had been
near it. I went into the open truck and called to Elsa; after
some hesitation she followed me, but placed herself broadside
on to the entrance, thus preventing me from getting out or
Jespah, who was following her, from coming in. After a time
she went back to the tents and hopped on to the roof of the
Land-Rover. The cubs began to eat and I went over to their
mother and started to play with her; as I did so, I noticed
that two of the maggot swellings had gone septic. I wanted to
deal with them, but each time I touched her she withdrew, and
when on the following day I again tried to help her she
seemed to be even more sensitive.
I always carry a little sulphanilamide powder with me to
disinfect insect bites or scratches but George believes that,
while they are very effective for human beings, in the case
of animals one should not give such drugs unless there is
proof that their own antibodies are not strong enough to
effect a natural cure. Because of this, I did not give Elsa
sulphanilamide, relying on her natural resistance and
thinking that she would lick her wounds clean, as she had
often done before when she had been plagued by the maggots.
The lions spent the next day in the kitchen lugga where
Nuru and I found them in the afternoon. I sent him off to
prepare a carcase at the camp - Elsa managed to keep the cubs
away from the goats, even though they were developing an
increasing interest in them. Had she not always shown such a
co-operative attitude our peaceful truce could never have
been maintained. On this day, too, she showed her usual tact
and sense of fair play when the cubs started to ambush me.
All they wanted was a friendly game, but their claws were
very sharp. Elsa came to my rescue, cuffed her children, gave
me too a mild spanking, and generally saw to it that the
cubs' surprise at my reluctance to play with them did not
develop into animosity.
There could be no doubt about her wish to maintain good
relations between all of us. I had another proof it on the
following afternoon. Nuru and I spotted the lions on the
Whuffing Rock. As soon as I called to her, Elsa came and
joined us and was most affectionate to me - indeed, she
seemed to be making the most of the few moments in which we
were alone; as soon as Jespah appeared she became aloof. She
was plainly determined not to arouse her cubs' jealousy, was
always careful in Jespah's presence, and when Gopa and Little
Elsa were about it was an understood thing that no
demonstrations of affection were ever to take place between
us, for they, more than Jespah, had a tendency to be very
jealous of me.
We crossed the thick bush towards the river, and Nuru had
a difficult time with Jespah, who took advantage of every
piece of cover to pounce out at him and try to get his rifle.
It was only because Elsa often stood between her son and him
that any progress was possible.
When we reached the river, I told Nuru to take a short cut
home and get the lions' dinner ready. He sneaked away as
quickly as he could, but Jespah was not going to be deprived
of his fun, and stealthily followed him. My 'No's' were
without effect; luckily I knew I could rely on Nuru's tactics
to get him out of his difficulties. He has a unique way with
animals and can always be relied c;n to be kind to them. How
often I have watched him using all sorts of tricks to divert
their interest when they were being naughty, rather than
resort to force or punishment. In all the years he has been
in daily contact with them, he has never once suffered so
much as a scratch, and there is no doubt he is genuinely fond
of his charges. I would rather have him than anyone else to
deal with lions.
While Nuru was making his way home, I took the rest of the
family back by the river. When we reached the studio lugga
Jespah joined us, and by his spirited prancings
I could just imagine what fun he had been having with poor
Nuru. When we got to camp the cubs pounced on their dinner
and Elsa stepped carefully up on to the roof of the
Land-Rover. Her maggot wounds seemed to be hurting her a
great deal, but she would not allow me to touch the
swellings, much less press the maggots out.
