I want to tell you about a lion I’ve been following for over a year now. His name is Stumbles, and he’s taught me more about survival than almost any animal I’ve photographed.
I met him at Linkwasha Camp in Zimbabwe when he was just weeks old. I was lucky enough to watch his mother carry him between den sites, one of four cubs in the litter. It was an ordinary beginning. It didn’t stay that way.
His three siblings died. We still don’t know how. Then his mother abandoned him. A cub that young, alone, has almost no chance. I’ve seen enough of the wild to know what that usually means.
But this pride had other plans for him. Two females with older cubs of their own let tiny Stumbles nurse alongside them. It wasn’t charity. It was just enough to keep him alive.
What followed wasn’t easy. Stumbles had to match the pace of lions twice his size, walking long distances every day, fighting cubs far older than him for every mouthful of food. He grew up faster than any cub should. He was traveling with the pride and meeting his father at an age when he should have still been hidden away in a den.
Every meal was a fight he had to win. And then he broke his leg. I remember thinking that was it, that this was where his story ended.
It wasn’t. By then, the pride had taken him in completely. They groomed him. They protected him. They waited when he couldn’t keep up. His leg healed. He grew stronger. The cub who shouldn’t have survived his first month became simply one of the family.
I recently returned from Linkwasha to see if I could try and find Stumbles. It has been six months since I saw him. It took three days of tracking but we finally able to find his pride and I am thrilled to say he is thriving!
He’s a teenager now, all long legs and awkward proportions, with his mane just beginning to come in. Watching him move with the rest of the pride, still relying on them for protection and food, was a different experience than watching him fight to survive as a cub. Only about fifty percent of lion cubs make it to adulthood, and Stumbles has already beaten odds most cubs never face. His story so far is incredible, but he still has ground to cover before he’s fully grown, and he still needs this family to get him there.
I’ll be going back to keep following him as he grows. I cannot wait.
When we design a custom private wildlife safari for solo travelers, friends or families. We focus on creating a deeper experiences for our clients. We select places that allow for genuine, meaningful wildlife encounters and skip the rest that give you a boiler plate “one-size-fits-all” itinerary, that always follow the same path and stop in the same places.
By limiting group sizes and choosing ethical, conservation-led operators, we avoid crowding, unethical practices, and provide you with more opportunity to see and experience intimate wildlife encounters.
More connection, more authenticity, and moments that stay with you forever!
Wildlife Conservation Network, WCN, conservation partnership, charity work
