#20. The Kalahari Game Reserve
Central Kalahari Game Reserve is a national park located in the Kalahari desert in Botswana. It covers an area of 53,000 square kilometers, is way larger than the Netherlands and it represents almost 10% of Botswana ‘s total area. This makes the Kalahari Reserve the second largest game reserve in the world and it’s home to a lot of different creatures. If you visit the reserve you can spot any animal you can imagine!
The park is home to species such as Bush Elephants, South African Giraffes, White Rhinos, Cape Buffalo, White, and Black Hyenas, Cheetahs, Zebras, Leopards, and Lions. Just like anywhere else in Africa, the lions are at the top of the food chain, which means they’re every other animal’s biggest fear! At the same time, it’s every human’s wish to see a pride of lions with their own eyes, and this is the reason why this photographer chose this park to do some fieldwork.
#19. A Wild Life Photographer Doing His Job
Graham Dyer is a wildlife photographer from Johannesburg, South Africa who was working in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana. He spent a few days trying to capture lions in nature but he wasn’t being successful. He had to wait a few days to capture something worthy and interesting. After a long period of waiting he captured a remarkable lion family behaving in the strangest way.
On a warm day of April while Graham Dyer was walking through the Reserve situated in the Kalahari desert. As the lion’s population there is decreasing, he only hoped to find a small group of lions, but he ended up finding so much more than that! Suddenly while he was walking there with his camera he heard a noise that alarmed him. Read the following page to discover what it was!
#18. An Animal Crying
Graham heard what seemed to be an animal crying in pain and followed the noise until he found a little fox lying in the dirt. Apparently, it was a species of fox called bat-eared fox that he had never seen before. In fact, it was not a common animal to find in the Kalahari!
The bat-eared fox is a species of fox found only on the African Savanna, named after his large ears which are used for thermoregulation — the ability of an organism to keep the body temperature within certain boundaries even when the surrounding one is very different —. The fox that Graham spotted had tawny fur with dark ears and legs and was only about 55 centimeters long. However, something was wrong with him…
#17. A Heart-Breaking Moment
As Graham got nearer, he realized that the fox was severely injured and had a couple of open wounds. Now he understood the reason behind all the screaming! He was truly heartbroken, as the poor little fox was one of the most adorable creatures he had ever seen.
However, the truth was there wasn’t much he could do. After all, he was just a photographer and didn’t know anything about veterinary. But just when he was about to leave, he heard something that really concerned him…
#16. The Sound Of Danger
Graham heard movement and went to investigate what it was. That was when he realized that just a few meters away was a large group of lions, exactly what he was looking for. He was happy to find just what he wanted but he was also concerned for the fox.
Graham couldn’t help but imagine what would happen when the lions found him. Besides, lions are extremely sensitive to the smell of blood from open wounds, so the fox was clearly in grave danger. However, little did he imagine what was about to happen…
#15. How To Help The Fox
The photographer wanted to help the fox but he didn’t know how to. He figured that if he approached the fox, the lions would think he was trying to steal their food, and he clearly wanted to avoid giving that impression. Therefore, he just settled down to observe and photograph the lions while trying to figure out if there was any way he could save the fox.
Graham had thought this would be just another ordinary day, but what he ended up witnessing something exceptionally splendid that he’ll never forget. After some time he realized that the head female lion was not there. The female lions usually go off to hunt in groups, so where could the head lioness have gone?
#14. The Lion Finds The Fox
A few minutes later, a lioness showed up. Graham feared for the fox’s life, while he held his camera and prepared himself to capture a lion killing its prey. But the lioness didn’t do the killing immediately. On the contrary, she just sat down and stared at the wounded animal.
Suddenly, Graham realized that the head of the pride was taking a nap just a few meters away when suddenly a noise woke him up. Graham was thrilled yet at the same time nervous, as it was the largest male lion he had ever seen. How would he react?
#13. An Unexpected Scenario
Graham was thrilled yet frightened, as he didn’t know what to expect. Was the male lion about to fight a predator? Capture a prey? Get its lunch? What would happen when he found the injured fox in the pathway near them? To his surprise, neither of this happened.
The male lion got up and walked to find this intriguing scene: one of the lionesses had just found an injured fox and was standing right next to him. The lioness was calm and didn’t seem to be about to attack the little animal. Graham couldn’t see exactly what the fox’s injury was, but it apparently had something in its back legs, otherwise, the fox would have already left. The poor creature just couldn’t move.
#12. Protecting The Harmed Fox
When the male lion arrived he was decided to attack the little fox lying in front of them, but something amazing happened. The lioness didn’t have the same plans, and she wanted to protect the fox from the giant lion.
The normal behavior would be for the male and female lion to kill their prey together, but this time, the lioness had other plans. For some unknown reason, she started to fight back in order to protect the poor dying fox.
#11. Protecting The Little Harmed Fox
The lioness wasn’t afraid to fight her king and do whatever she had to do to help the already hurt animal. The lion seemed to understand and backed off a little bit, respecting the lioness’ decision.
She gave out a couple of loud and intimidating roars until the male lion grabbed the message and lost interest in eating the fox that lay in the ground crying. The fox seemed to be safe, but let’s not forget there was an entire pride of hungry lions just a few feet away…
#10. The Herd Arrives
As soon as the male lion backed off, the tension started to dial down. It almost seemed like the pride was starting to grow comfortable with the fox’s company. The fox stopped crying and the lioness relaxed, but a few moments later, the rest of the herd decided to approach the injured fox and see for themselves what was going on.
The rest of the lions looked confused. They were probably puzzled when they saw the lioness lying by the fox’s side and protecting it! At first, it seemed like they wanted to attack the fox but their queen continued protecting it.
#9. Foxes Are Friends, Not Lunch!
Graham observed the whole situation and wondered how much would it last and what would happen when the fox wasn’t next to the lioness anymore. The cubs assumed it was dinner-time but the lioness sat protectively next to the fox and didn’t let them get any closer.
The fox was scared as hell, and he refused to leave the queen’s side while he met the rest of the lion family. But the little lions proved that they meant no harm and just wanted to explore what was going on. Some of them sniffed his fur, while the others just stood by the lioness’ side.
#8. Something Never Seen
However, the fox was still in pain and he couldn’t get comfortable, he was defensive and scared while the rest of the herd was welcoming and calm to help out the fox. This scene was something never seen in the animal kingdom before.
he fox understood that they were not a threat and tried to calm down a bit. Even though he stopped crying and whining, he couldn’t move because of his injuries and didn’t want to leave the mama lioness’s side. Graham said that it was unbelievable to see a little fox in between a pride of lions and without getting eaten.
#7. Nap Time
Eventually, the lions decided to relax and get a little sunlight while the sun was still out. The fox was finally able to calm down and started seeing the lions as friends. The lioness didn’t have any plans to leave his new adopted son’s side. Instead, she decided to take a nap with him under the warm sunlight. Graham was curious and wondered how long this strange and unlikely situation would last.
After a couple of hours, the king decided that it was time to continue with their lives. The sun was setting and that meant that predators would be out soon. Sure, they had all grown fond of the fox, but they had to start hunting their prey since they had a whole lot of cubs to feed! But what would the lioness do? Would she finally leave the fox to fend for himself?
#6. The Queen Decides
The Lioness was a true queen and she definitely acted like one, as she decided that she wasn’t going anywhere until the fox was healthy enough to walk on his own. As the night began to fall, however, most of the lions departed, leaving the little fox behind.
Graham began to feel worried. It had grown dark and he could barely spot the fox and what was left of the herd any longer. Then, he heard something that sounded like a fight. What was happening? What if someone or something had captured the fox? Was that the sound of a fox being hunted? It seemed like the fox was in safe hands, but Graham couldn’t help but assume the worst.
#5. Where’s The Fox?
Graham saw how some lions came back to their mother but the fox was still nowhere to be seen. Graham began to feel nervous, as he heard the sound of lions feeding on prey at a distance. Naturally, he imagined the worst.
Graham figured that the lions had gotten too hungry and had decided to dine on the fox, but it was too dark for him to tell. But could the protective lioness have let that happen, he wondered? Slide next to find out!
#4. He’s Back!
To his surprise, some minutes later, Graham saw the fox again! Our little friend was alright and seemed to be feeling better than before. The lions had just been feeding on an antelope that the lioness had hunted. Phew!
But the lioness couldn’t look after the fox forever. Now they were all full and it was bathtime for the babies. After the bath, the lions met up with another herd, which meant that the fox wasn’t completely out of danger yet. How would these new lions react?
#3. Meeting New Predators
At some point in the evening, Graham saw two hungry jackals that went straight to attack the little fox. The lions were so relaxed that they didn’t see the predators and the fox has to defend himself. As soon as the lions heard the noise, the lions lifted their heads and glanced towards the fox, scared of what could happen to their new friend. After all, the fox was still weak and wouldn’t stand a chance against the two big jackals.
Unfortunately, Graham couldn’t take photos of that situation. At first, he was surprised that the lions didn’t get involved in the fight, but the truth was that they had to look after their own babies and couldn’t risk their lives for a fox they had just met. They just couldn’t risk making two new enemies, so it was better if they stood out of trouble.
#2. Defeating The Jackals!
Against all odds, the fox managed to defend himself and escape from the two predators, which by the way were much bigger and stronger than he was. Graham wondered why the jackals had let him go so easily. Maybe they had decided the fox wasn’t worthy enough due to his small size and his injuries, or maybe they had felt intimidated by the herd of lions behind them.
One way or the other, the jackals left and the fox was really lucky to have his pack having his back! Boy, was the fox lucky! Just one day before, he was a little injured animal struggling to survive. But luckily for him, he had made the best friend he could ever ask for, a beautiful queen lion who was willing to do anything to protect him.
#1. The Fox Survived!
At first sight, it seemed that the fox had broken the pelvis or legs but, some days later, Graham went back to The Kalahari Game Reserve to find out whether the fox was doing better! He spotted the little fella again and found him standing on its hind legs!
Graham shared the photos he took with an African newsletter, African Geographic. The photos and the amazing and unusual story captured the hearts of people all around the world and surprised both scientists and ordinary people alike.