Big cats are the best cats
They’re fully capable of ripping other animals to shreds, yet the way lions snuggle up to one another shows a surprisingly softer side. This mom and cub emerged from underneath a shaded bridge on the road, and after scanning the landscape, they disappeared into the grass within a matter of seconds. While lions are at the top of the food chain, they can still fall victim to poachers, and I was happy to learn that a number of hotels and tour operators in the park, including the Four Seasons Safari Lodge, have become founding members of the Frankfurt Zoological Society's Serengeti De-Snaring Program, which helps reduce the amount of snare traps set up in the park. Before traveling to Tanzania, I had no idea that this kind of poaching existed, but it’s a major problem in the region. Since the launch of the Serengeti De-Snaring Program this spring, over 7,000 snare traps have been removed, and if more anti-snare teams are mobilized, this number will only go up. The snares are intended to illegally catch game that can be harvested as meat, but the wires also trap and harm animals like elephants and lions.