'Their resilience is a lesson to us all': The maritime lions hunting seals on the beach
'Their resilience is a lesson to us all': The maritime lions hunting seals on the beach
'Their resilience is a lesson to us all': The maritime lions hunting seals on the beach
In Namibia, a group of desert lions have left their traditional hunting grounds for the Atlantic coast and are now thriving as the world's only maritime lions.
So on the one hand, it's an amazing story of adaptability in the face of climate change:
"In 2015, the lions found the sea again and started hunting coastal prey on the beach, after a drought decimated their usual inland prey of ostriches, oryxes and springboks. "The seals were a blessing," says Van Malderen. "Climate change has pushed these desert lions to the edge, forcing them to adapt in extraordinary ways, to survive along the beaches of the Atlantic coast.""
OTOH - It's devastating for the seal population who likely had become accustomed to land being a safe haven from ocean predators.
"Van Malderen has watched Gamma grow up, first encountering the lioness when she was three months old. She is now three-and-a-half years, "almost an adult," she says, adding that the lioness has become a fearsome hunter capable of killing 40 seals in a single night."