Tourists choose to visit South Africa mainly because of its diverse wildlife. Adding ‘to visit the Big Five in real life’ to bucket lists is a frequent habit among adventurers around the world. While many people believe that these wild creatures roam freely on the African continent, it is not simple to spot the famous animals.
The three national parks in South Africa, where you can find these lions.
Gondwana Game Reserve
Tourists visiting the Gondwana Game Reserve based in South Africa’s Mossel Bay along the popular Garden Route can enjoy an extremely luxurious wildlife safari experience. This 11,000-hectare game reserve lacks malaria while allowing free-range Big Five safari animals, together with eland, giraffe, hippo, cheetah, and zebra to roam wild.
You will experience complete wilderness immersion in the South African wildlife and landscape through the gorgeous mountain scenery. Gondwana Game Reserve delivers high-quality African dining services and elegant lodging facilities, along with the unique experience of animals approaching your lodging space (game rangers remain available to manage animal movements).
Their lions are undoubtedly one of the most exciting wildlife attractions on the game reserve, and the dedicated game rangers work hard to track them down so that tourists on game drives can view them up close.
Aquila Game Reserve
Aquila Private Game Reserve offers Big Five safaris on their 10,000-hectare reserve, making for an incredible day trip from Cape Town, or you may stay overnight in their cottages.
They offer a range of safari tours based on your time limits. Choose between half- and full-day safari experiences, where you have a good chance of seeing their pride of free-roaming lions.
Aquila game rangers put extra effort into providing tourists with quality encounters with lions, which remain highly popular for wildlife observation. The adventure to Aquila Game Reserve should include booking spa services alongside exploring their animal rescue programs at their rehabilitation center.
Sanbona Wildlife Reserve
The Sanbona Wildlife Reserve in the Western Cape, about 200 kilometers east of Cape Town, hosts the only global population of free-roaming white lions who sustain their numbers naturally.
Aquila Game Reserve in the Karoo National Park also houses South African lions rescued from the ‘canned hunting’ industry, which breeds tame, passive lions particularly to be hunted in confined enclosures.
What do South African Lions Eat?
Lions are regarded as ‘opportunistic hunters’. They will devour anything they can find, including mice and elephants. The targeted ungulate-hoofed mammals within their territory included wildebeest together with deer, zebra, kudu antelope, juvenile hippo rhinos, and giraffes (even giraffes defend themselves by lashing out with their hind legs).
Hunters in South African territories prefer to track buffalo herds in order to choose and kill the herd’s weakest or slowest members when the moment presents itself. If they launch a full-fledged charge, the buffalo will encircle their young and fight back, generally with fatal consequences. A 900kg buffalo proves too heavy for a 200kg lion to overcome.
The wild species in South Africa face a threat as lions become predators of cheetahs and hyenas, as well as wild dogs, vultures, and jackals. Dead animals offer a chance for lions to consume meat.