and her 3 young lions

To ensure the good health of an animal and to check that it has not been the victim of poachers, you must at least see it, but where to find it in the 150km² of thick bush of the Abelana wildlife reserve?

Without the help of a transmitter/receivertracker,it would be impossible to find a particular animal or group of animals.

At least one individual of each “Big Five” species is fitted with a radio collar. Using an antenna and a receiver, LEO's professional guides can locate the area where the animal being sought is located. If this information is essential, it is rarely precise enough and does not dispense with a long search or the use of old tracking methods, including the reading of footprints on the ground.

Wanted lioness paw print. For a better reading of the photo, the contours of the print have been marked with black/white lines.

The LEO guides are always armed, pistol and rifle with real ammunition.

Afteralongsilentwalkinthebush,theLEO guide in the lead gives a big sign. All the volunteers stop, motionless we look for the lioness. We need a few minutes and the directions given by the guides to distinguish the lioness in the branches.

All is well with the animals.

She heard and then spotted us a long time ago. Barely thirty meters separate us from the lioness, we struggle to distinguish her three lion cubs. The emotion, the adrenaline are at their maximum. In the silence of the bush time has stopped, we are present in a scene from an animal documentary, an unforgettable moment.

It'ssofascinatingthatwealmostforgetthat we have wild lions in front of us which can be dangerous.

In the lead, the LEO guide gives the signal for departure, we leave without haste, still in silence dazzled by what we have just experienced.