Caption
Niokolo Koba National Park, Senegal.
On the very last day of our expedition, we found a lone young skinny female lioness. She appeared to have become separated from her pride and was not able to hunt on her own. A closer look showed that she had a face full of porcupine quills which were preventing her from eating. We thought her chances of survival were very low. We knew we had to do something because, even though this was natural, here was a young female who could over her life make a significant contribution to the recovery of this critically endangered population. So, we decided to dart her and remove the quills from her mouth and face, disinfect her wounds and give her antibiotics. We then left her with a few days worth of meat to eat which will fatten her up. We probably saved her life. She was too small to fit with a GPS collar but we took genetics samples from her and hopefully some day we will find her again or even better yet will find her offspring! What an incredible way to finish the collaring expedition!
Pictured here is the young lioness waking up after the operation.