‘I was chased by the lions of Longleat’
As Longleat’s lions are released for feeding time, BBC journalist Andy Howard finds himself at the center of their hunt and discovers how park rangers deal with some of the UK’s most powerful predators.
I have to admit I was nervous. Desperately trying to stay upright in a flimsy cage on wheels, surrounded by hunks of meat and walking into a field of hungry lions is not how most people start their day.
This was definitely not my usual morning. But for the keepers who looked after the Longleat lions, it was business as usual.
Longleat lions are fed a meat-based diet twice a week. [BBC]
Both groups of large predators are only fed twice a week and know exactly when it is time.
To my surprise, it wasn’t about throwing breakfast over a fence.
“They are chasing us,” explained head warden Eloïse Kilbane.
“Well, it’s you they’re hunting, not me; they know me.”
Fantastic.
High security fences
The Lions have been at Longleat since 1966, when the Wiltshire estate became the first drive-through safari park outside of Africa. At the time it cost £1 per car.
About 50 lions roamed the 100-acre site, held back by little more than a chain-link fence.
Nearly 60 years later, almost everything has changed.
Today, a dozen lions are confined within a four-metre-high state-of-the-art fence with high-security remote locks.
These safety features are especially important on feeding days.
High security fences surround the lion enclosures [BBC]
“Food reward”
Our “fodder cart”, filled with calves, rumbles through the safety barriers, pulled by a tractor. The routine is tightly controlled.
The walkie-talkies crackle. The Land Rover support guards wait for the signal. Only when everyone is in position are the lions released.
“Come on, lions!” resonates through the speaker.
As the tractor drives away, the first group charges toward the meat.
Keepers ensure lions work for their food [BBC]
The fastest one is heading straight towards our wheels.
“They know that if they puncture the tires of the food cart, the food stays in their section,” is Eloise’s latest bombshell.
“Our patrol truck’s mission is to prevent this from happening.
“Our job is to make sure that when the time is right, when they have worked hard enough, they get their reward in the form of food.”
Fortunately, the tires remained intact.
“Designed to hunt”
Lions are tactical hunters. In the wild, the dark markings on the back of their ears and at the tip of their tail help pride members track each other during a chase. The light fur around their eyes reflects all available light, which helps them hunt at dawn and dusk.
It is the females who do most of the work.
“Personally, I think that when the mother has cubs, she designs the hormones she produces to create what she thinks the pride needs to become the best group of hunters,” Eloise said.
Our rattling feed cart, traveling at 40 km/h, is thought to be the next victim.
Nala, 15, is the first to chase, while the others stay behind.
“She caught up with us and started cutting us off, trying to push us away and then pushing us into two other lions,” says Eloïse.
Journalist Andy Howard said that being so close, the lions made his heart rate increase. [BBC]
Of course it works. The tractor is suddenly surrounded by six panting wild animals.
Now it is our turn to act. A metal hatch at the back of the feed wagon opens and the huge chunks of meat fall onto the track.
“We give them a few pieces each because they will all have different pieces of meat that they want to eat, so they will find the piece they want,” Eloise explained.
Almost instantly, the chaos disappears.
Lions are at the top of the food chain [BBC]
Lions drag their food across the grass, spacing out just enough to avoid conflict.
“They’re going to separate a little bit because they don’t want to have that rivalry between them, but they’ll stay close enough to the meat to be able to come back for the rest,” Eloise explained.
“Lions are at the top of the food chain, no one goes after whoever has food, so you can see they have their heads down – they don’t care what’s going on around them.”
Finished in a few minutes
Like a real chase, the entire episode ends in just a few minutes.
Once the keepers are satisfied that each lion is settled and feeding, we retreat, leaving behind a trail of scattered meat.
“And relax,” Eloise said.
I needed that assurance.
Being so close to 30-stone predators in “hunting” mode, separated only by a metal cage, is a real pacemaker.
For park staff, however, this controlled chaos is routine – carefully designed to mimic life in the wild.
“We try to be as natural as possible,” Eloise said.
“We want to make sure they remain lions, because they are the lions of Longleat. They always have been and they always will be.”
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