I have to admit, keeping myself occupied and finding things to do during lockdown has been tough. Lately, I’ve found myself fond of napping. Getting an extra hour of sleep during the day leaves me feeling nice and refreshed. And it looks like I may not be the only one taking advantage of nap time during lockdown.
It seems as though the animals of the world have begun noticing that humans are a little bit more absent than usual. According to Park Ranger Richard Sowry, who is currently stationed at South Africa’s Kruger National Park, roads that are usually busy with tourist traffic are empty, and the lions are taking full advantage of the empty pavement. Sowry was able to snap a photograph of a pride of lions taking a nap on the road (1).
Kruger National Park has been shut down to visitors since March 25th as part of South Africa’s efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, a respiratory disease. Although the National Park is empty of visitors, Sowry is still working, checking on wildlife and ensuring the park is safe and empty.
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“Everybody realizes the importance of the lockdown and the rangers are there to do their normal duties,” said Isaac Phaala, the park’s media officer. “To maintain the infrastructure takes quite a bit of work so that when the park opens, you don’t start from scratch.”
On Wednesday, April 15th, Sowry was driving down a road near Orpen Rest Camp when he noticed something was blocking the way. He drove within 5 meters of the sleeping pride of lions and snapped a photo on his mobile phone. The lions, who are often perceived as being dangerous, aggressive creatures (and they certainly can be!) seemed completely unphased by Sowry’s presence. Some didn’t even seem to wake up while he was present.
Sowry thinks that their blase attitude toward his presence is likely a result of being exposed to a lot of visitors in vehicles.
“Lions are used to people in vehicles,” said Sowry. “All animals have much more of an instinctive fear of people on foot, so if I had walked up they would never have allowed me to get so close.”
The matriarchal lion and the oldest in the pride is 14 years old, which is fairly old for a lioness, and it’s likely that she’s very much accustomed to seeing humans in cars at this stage of her life. Sowry says the lions likely chose the asphalt to sleep on due to how well the pavement retains heat from the sun on cooler days.
Sowry says that overall, the lockdown isn’t changing animal behavior much. “Kruger is a very wild place,” he said. “It has been wild and it is still wild.”
Phaala doesn’t expect the lockdown to change lion behavior either, saying “normally they would be in the bushes because of the traffic but they are very smart and now they are enjoying the freedom of the park without us”.
Sowry is glad to share these unique photos with the world, especially people who aren’t able to visit the National Park due to the coronavirus shutdown. He hopes that his photos will bring smiles to people living through a tough time.
“These are difficult times for everyone and the intention was to bring people joy,” he said.
As for when the park will reopen to the public, that is difficult to determine. As of April 15, the nation’s lockdown was extended for another fourteen days.
Keep Reading: Video shows California’s Yosemite National Park full of animals in the absence of humans
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