Below is a picture that a good friend of mine just sent me. He was busy with a Leopard hunt, but he could not get this damn lion to stop climbing the tree, and eating his bait.

He said the bait was easily 20 feet off the ground, and the big cat climbed the tree on three different nights. Completely devouring the bait each & every time. He also said that the only way this lion could feed, is just how it looks in the picture. He would have to hang off the limb, and it looked like the lion fell to the ground several times, got back up, and climbed the tree again. I've seen pictures of them climbing trees for baits before, but not sure I have ever seen one hanging from the limb, 20 feet off the ground.

Man, he must have been real hungry!!!

A cool picture Aaron, and a rare one at that.

Very cool, and one hungry cat!

My understanding is that lions & tigers as young animals can climb trees. I have a seen an old movie clip of a tiger running up a tree just like any other cat - up to about 15 feet height in about 2 or 3 seconds & then stopping.

I understood that older heavier animals do not climb trees. How old was this lion? A young male?

Great picture.

Cool photo. Yes, they can climb trees. I am sure there are a few Mozambique refugees that walked through Kruger Park that found out the hard way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...NvuepBWg&feature=fvw

Great photo. I believe there is an entire pride of lions in Uganda that are well known for their tree climbing ability.

I just thought the picture was worth showing to everyone, not something you see often. I have never personally seen a lion in a tree, but I have seen other trail cam pictures similar to this one. Including several big males, just as the one in this pic.

I've seen several lionesses in tress in Botswana, when hunting near the Selinda River. Never saw a big male doing it (I'd have shot him if I had) but several females were up in trees after consuming a zebra they'd killed the night before.

I have seen pictures of very large male lions in trees. In the documentary film "Predators at War", a lioness climbs a tree to get at a leopard kill, and falls to her death.

Yes, even mature lions & lionesses can and do climb trees. It does however seem to be a lot more common in some specific areas.

The ones in Serengeti Tz often climb trees and I've seen them do it many times...... they're not elegant when it comes to getting back down though. You'll often see the tree shake for several minutes and then down thuds a lion or two.

Aaron,

A couple of years ago I was hunting Jose, one of your clients in West Petauke and we had to resort to tracking up Lions on foot as they refused to come to bait. On one occassion we were tracking a pride down a sandy river bed and heard an ominous growl nearby but for the life of us could not see the cat until it exploded out of a Kigalia (sausage tree) a few feet in front of us. Just as we had regained our composure a two year old fell out of the same tree in his haste to get away from us.

Here you go:



I took this one in the Serengeti, when I was standing on the seat of a game viewing vehicle and she was a foot or two above my eyeline.

They can all climb. Big males less so but I have seen a big mature male climb with my own eyes. Anyone who has ever hunted Matetsi will attest to the abilities of those lionesses to get to the most carefully hung leopard bait, they can be a pain.

A buddy of mine sighted, stalked and shot a HUGE black mane male asleep on a tree limb in the Selous of all places.

Lucky bastard!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana Bunduki:
A buddy of mine sighted, stalked and shot a HUGE black mane male asleep on a tree limb in the Selous of all places.

Lucky bastard!!!

Lucky indeed!!!

No.
Lions do not climb trees.

If anyone tells you different, they are lion.

That's why many PH's set up leopard baits on thin limbs that heavier lions will likely avoid.

My buff (Chirisa)was shot about 5 miles away from the truck. The PH wanted me to accompany him back to the truck. I refused. (I had spent a lot of time shooting a 375 and had come some 8000 miles to get him -and was not about to leave him to the mercy of hyenas or lions -and certainly not to the tender care of a "ranger" with a somewhat rusted AK-47. Fact) The PH apparently took a long chance on me and let me stay. There was a very low acacia -and the "ranger" promptly put himself up in the fork. I literally walked sentry duty for some hours. (Only years later did it occur to me that even a lioness could have stood up and plucked him out of the fork. ((I had seen lion bait areas and was told that a male lion could stand on hind legs and reach up some 11-12 feet) No,please, guys, I don't need any reprimands about my foolish behaviour. I have always realized it in the years since. By the good Lord's mercy, not even hyenas showed up. (I chased vultures and felt very brave about it) (I do have to say that I had promised that I would not open fire on the first lion I saw -and that I would run for the tree if a group showed up. These many years later, I do wonder exactly how well I would have done -and, yes, to repeat, I was a fool. I gambled my life for a buff trophy -after the buff was dead. Most buff hunters do the gambling before the buff is dead.