A Conversation with Chris & Charlotte McBride

Writer: Leelee Ngwenya Photography: McBrides’ Camp, Joahim Dausch

When you meet Chris and Charlotte McBride you immediately feel welcome in their home. I visited them at their very beautiful and serene Lusaka residence and was greeted enthusiastically by their rescue dogs. Chris then led me to what can be described as an outside tea room where I was introduced to his delightful wife, Charlotte. We sat and drank coffee while we spoke about Chris’s native South Africa, and Zimbabwe, where Charlotte is from.

Chris and Charlotte together part-own and run McBrides’ Camp in Kafue National Park and Chris’s eyes light up as he speaks about his life and wildlife in particular. Chris is also well known worldwide for his books about lions and I was here to delve into the subject of lions and writing about them. When Chris speaks about lions he does so with passion, something he shares with his late father, Cyril, explaining, ‘My father was fascinated by lions for some reason and I suppose I got keen on them because he was centred on them.’ businessman man originally from Durban. During Chris’s childhood, his father fought the Germans in the desert in World War Two. Chris says, ‘I saw him for the first time after about two or three years when he came back from the war. He and his brother bought a property adjoining the Kruger National Park. They were both keen on wild animals and so I grew up visiting about 10,000 acres of what later became known as the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve.’

While enjoying his time in the wilderness, Chris became friendly with tracker Jack Mathebula. ‘Jack was a brilliant tracker and my sport when I was a teenager was to go with him and track lions. He would say to me, “Listen, we are getting close now, don’t look on the ground, look in front.” We would observe the sleeping lions which we then left alone. What I learned from him was amazing.

‘On one particular walk we found fresh lion spoor and there was a lioness that had gone through that area. I was with my friend who wanted to throw stones to see if the lioness was there. He proceeded to throw stones and on the third attempt the lioness charged out, growling thunderously. Jack shouted, “Yima ungadubuli!” meaning, “Stay still, don’t shoot”. The lioness had stopped 25 metres away; she had charged out of fear for her cubs! We managed to make our escape by quietly walking off into the distance and she returned to her cubs. I often wonder how many charging lions have been shot unnecessarily.’

As an adult, Chris went on to study lions. ‘I did my Master’s thesis (in Wildlife Management/ Natural Resources at Humboldt State University in California) and learned very quickly that lions don’t worry about vehicles. Konrad Lorenz, the Austrian founder of the study of animal behaviour—ethology— theorised that animals work on genetic programming and learning and that humans are in the programme and animals fear us. (There are exceptions, such as man-eating and imprinting. Imprinting is where a very young animal, removed from its parents, “imprints” on a human as the parent.)

'For lions, a human is an upright shape with a certain scent. Vehicles are not threatening to an animal but if you stand up, even in a vehicle, you are a threat because then you are recognised as human. You can get as close as you like in a vehicle as it’s not in the programme. However, if you chase them in a vehicle, they will learn instantly that it is a threat, but treat them gently and they will be fine.’

We return to the subject of Timbavati. Charlotte remembers their time there with the white lions so fondly, telling me, ‘They were a wonderful part of our lives and the book, The White Lions of Timbavati, was translated into eight languages and eventually made it to

number four on the best seller list in the UK’s prestigious Sunday Times newspaper. Because these animals were unique, the success of the book was special for us in as much as it got people from all over the world interested and involved with lions and conservation…it was a great conservation tool.’

One white lion story unfolds like this… An unscrupulous hunter was offered a considerable sum of money for a white lion trophy. Now, one way to attract lions is to play sounds of hyenas cackling, as lions know this indicates that the hyenas have found meat. Chris explains, ‘The danger fence was where the hunter was and a carcass was nearby. The white lions had to be kept away from the danger fence, where they would have been shot. We had to find another sound they would come to.’

Chris’s solution was to adapt the Pavlovian theory of conditioning dogs to associate food with a particular sound (in Pavlov’s case, a bell), but Chris chose another sound… Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, to entice the lions away from danger!

‘We conditioned the white lions to associate another sound with meat, by playing this (the concerto) when the lions were eating, and so after a while they would come to the sound and a carcass. It would have made no difference what sound was chosen to attract the lions, provided that a link between that sound and meat had been made,’ he told me.

Charlotte remembers, ‘You can imagine the strains of this amazing music floating through the starlit bush…then, slowly appearing like ghosts through the darkness, two white lions…’

When it comes to his differing styles of storytelling in his writing, Chris explains, ‘I don’t choose…I just think of what I want to say and start writing. LIONTIDE is my best work. That was full-time research and there was a lot more data there as we were with the lions all the time. If you are studying lions, you cannot just study them in isolation; they are at the top of the food pyramid. You have to look at the entire ecosystem. If you see a stable pride of lions you know that everything underneath them is thriving in that ecosystem…from the antelope, kudu and wild boars to the birds and insects. I like to compare the ecosystem’s thriving to the miner’s canary in a cage; if it died he knew there was poisonous gas in the mine. Similarly, if there are no stable prides in that ecosystem, something is wrong.’

A stark contrast to the storytelling of LIONTIDE is that of LIVING WITH LIONS: McBrides’ Diaries–Part 1 which is written more in a diary style and incorporates letters between his wife, Charlotte, and her mother as well as journal entries. That book was written under different circumstances he explains, ‘We had guests at the time and you cannot focus solely on lions when you have guests. This book explores other wildlife and is not the same formula as working on a scientific study.’

I turn to Charlotte and ask her about the future. ‘Chris has continued with his passion for lions, and now, today, new memories are made daily at McBrides’ Camp…lions roaring throughout the night at the camp, our guests huddled safely under their blankets…Lone Ranger—our huge resident hippo—lying fast asleep next to the dining area, snoring gently… and five beautiful lionesses strolling through the camp, deciding to rest in front of the dining room while guests were having brunch. These lovely, relaxed golden girls greatly outstayed their welcome and no one could go to their rooms until the lionesses moved on, in their own good time.’

Chris adds, ‘I hope to accomplish part two of LIVING WITH LIONS with my wife and I would love to do a lot more writing now. Charlotte can write really beautifully, her mother influenced her to read, and she just has a natural instinct with wildlife.’

The magic of lions continues to enthrall and captivate…so say the McBrides— and I agree.