The high-pitched chirping of cicadas echoes through the heavy air, and the forest behind us shimmers in the midday heat.<\/strong><\/p>\n The black-bellied dove, invisible in the tree canopy, urges me to work harder, work harder, work harder, but my wet shirt and red skin insist that I already am. The pigeons won and I continued searching for hours in the long yellow grass that hampered my efforts. <\/p>\n Somewhere in those grasslands lies the legendary lioness that brought me to this corner of Zambia. She is an indomitable survivor and a warrior who is a testament to the resilience and fortitude of wild animals and the people charged with protecting them.<\/p>\n Her name is Tripod and her home is none other than Eden. She lives in Kafue National Park. Kafue National Park is a 22,400 square kilometer (about the same size as Wales) wilderness covered in vast woodlands interspersed with a mosaic of grasslands, wetlands and floodplains, split in half by the gentle Mitan River of the Kafue River. <\/p>\n Her proud territory lies to the east of the river, where hippos, crocodiles, waterfowl, and an abundance of antelope are drawn to the vast lagoon, which holds water year-round. With so much beauty and abundance, it’s hard to imagine that there are malignant and widespread problems lurking beneath the surface that could threaten Tripod’s life.<\/p>\n In 2016, Tripod was snared by poachers. This was a particularly brutal trap, involving bending a tree and securing it to the ground with a winch cable. When the animal steps on the trigger, the tree is released, wrapping wire mesh around the victim’s legs and hoisting them into the air, where they hang upside down and eventually die. <\/p>\n A powerful animal like a lion may escape, but the resulting injuries can be horrific. In Tripod’s case, he lost the lower part of his right hind leg due to being caught in a trap. Deprived of speed and stealth, she is today forced to jump. She walks in a slow, unsteady, and tiring manner, announcing her presence with a thud, thud, thud. Her ability to quietly weave through long grass or chase swift prey was gone. Even maintaining her pride is difficult.<\/p>\n The question of how Tripod survived in the wilderness, where the laws of nature dictate that only the strongest and fittest can survive, has been on my mind for months. That’s why I’ve been sweating for weeks under the Zambian sun looking for answers.<\/p>\n There is movement in the long grass. With a glimpse of their tawny fur and twitching black-tipped tails, the Tripods strode in unison toward the clearing, their heads and shoulders visible. She stands proud, dignified, and defiant, staring warily at me from only 10 meters away. She has no signs of injury at this time. She is just a wild lion living in a wild place, as lions have done for thousands of years, but the paradigm changes as she moves forward. <\/p>\n Her front legs move with confidence and grace, but her hind legs have to take the full weight of her hind legs and jump with each step. My heart goes out to her as she flutters under the shade of the ebony tree. She looks so vulnerable alone in this vast wilderness. Where is her support, safety, and pride? <\/p>\n The answer is right around the corner. Sitting next to me in the four-wheel-drive vehicle is Phil Jeffrey, safari guide and co-founder of Musekese Conservation Society. Established in 2017, the organization partners with the Zambia Carnivore Program, works with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, and protects Kafue through habitat management, community engagement, research projects and collaboration with law enforcement, including anti-poaching.<\/p>\n Phil explains that if a lion is found trapped, veterinarian intervention may be possible. This is similar to the case in 2017 when a lioness born to the same pride was now sadly presumed dead. That Tripod survived without such treatment makes her story even more remarkable. <\/p>\n The key to her success is her adaptability. “She has changed her hunting techniques. She ambushes her prey more like a leopard,” says Phil. “She also scavenges a lot of leopards. There are a lot of leopards here, so she scavenges their prey.” <\/p>\n Added to that, and even more important, is her support from a small but loyal pride of her sister and two sub-adult females. They are a capable unit, making regular kills and sharing the spoils with the Tripods if they are within earshot. And finally, there are anti-poaching teams that patrol land and air to identify criminal tracks and camps. “They not only make sure the tripods aren’t caught in other traps, but also make sure there’s a viable prey base to increase their chances of survival,” says Phil.<\/p>\n There is nothing more timeless and wild than the roar of a lion on a moonless African night. As I huddle in bed, I hear two lions roaring near the camp. The voice is so deep, so loud and resonant that the very air seems to tremble. It had been two days since my first sighting of the Tripod, and I was curiously convinced that one of the roars was hers. <\/p>\n A few hours later, when there was a glimmer of light in the sky, Phil and I were looking for headlight tracks when two animals emerged from the darkness ahead. It’s the Tripod, and she’s accompanying it. He is one of two young men who staked their claim in the region and had just ousted the previous ruling coalition. They glanced in our direction and continued on their way. This apparent act of courtship explains the Tripod’s lack of pride, and when she was last seen, she probably found her lover lying nearby, hidden in the long grass.<\/p>\n Phil and I looked at each other in shock. Will Tripod become a mother in the future?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Golden light cuts through the cold morning air, and the lions are momentarily illuminated by its radiance. I was struck by the eerie metaphor. If Tripod mated and became pregnant, she would have just been thrust into the spotlight as an ambassador in the fight against poaching. They turn from the road and into a clearing, but by then the sun is fully up. <\/p>\n The tripod jumps out in front of the male, makes a quick turn, and flicks the male’s face with its tail. She is more agile than I expected and clearly knows how to flirt. As she lay down, he mounted his horse and, growling, bared his teeth and bit the back of her neck. After a few seconds, she spun on the spot and smacked him in the face with her sharp clawed paw, causing him to jump. Phil and I looked at each other in shock. Will Tripod become a mother in the future?<\/p>\n Tripod’s future is tied to the future of the park she calls home. While the Musekese Conservation Society has done a good job of protecting large parts of the park, the protection of Kafue as a whole rests with African Parks. In July 2022, the NGO was awarded a 20-year mandate to manage Kafue.<\/p>\n Project leader Craig Reid praises the Zambian government for its visionary approach to leveraging Kafue as a national asset. “However, the most important problem remains that law enforcement is not being enforced at the scale needed. To combat this, we are currently purchasing vehicles and new firearms, and we plan to recruit 80 more scouts by the end of the year.”<\/p>\n Kafue is one of Africa’s largest protected areas and has significant conservation challenges. The unfenced boundary borders a Game Management Area (GMA) that acts as a buffer between the park and human settlements. \u201cMany GMAs have challenges with illegal settlements, which reduce the inherent benefits that would normally be provided to local communities,\u201d Craig said. To address this issue, a community engagement team was developed to work on corporate and education initiatives.<\/p>\n Our last afternoon in Kafue is spent sitting with the pride of the Tripod. She mated with the male for 3 days and the male and his brother moved out 2 days ago. She is probably looking for her sister now, so we wait in hope that she shows up. The three lions suddenly raise their heads, ears forward, eyes fixed on the north. We can hear it too. It’s not a roar, but a quiet, plaintive groan, repeated over and over again, the cry of a lion’s contact. It must be a tripod. <\/p>\n We wait for her sister’s response, but she just listens in lies. We drove in the direction of Tripod and found her exhausted on the road less than a kilometer away. She can only walk about 20 meters at a time, stopping to rest and make phone calls. She must have been following them for days. She reached a fork in the road. Going left will take her to the pride, going right will take her away from them, but she is upwind and doesn’t know which path to take. Devastated, she heads right. <\/p>\n A little further on, she slumped down again, looking nowhere in particular as she made a phone call. She gathers herself and leaves the road, this time heading to her family. We recovered and went back elsewhere to wait for her arrival. When Tripod finally sees his sister, he picks up speed, but it’s clear that it will take a lot of effort. I raise my camera, expecting a loving welcome, but… nothing. Other women don’t stand up much.<\/p>\n The Tripod fell onto its side and was finally able to rest. Five minutes later, my heart screamed as her sister stood up and walked effortlessly down the street, followed by the other women. Tripod stood up again and limped after them. They pause and wait for her to catch up, but when she lies down again they continue on their way. This time she just sits and watches them disappear into the fading light. <\/p>\n There is no room for sentimentality in the natural world. All that matters is survival. Emotions don’t cloud your judgment. I’m wondering what Tripod will be like as a mother. If she has children, she will be isolated from the pride for 6-8 weeks. Not only does she have to hunt and scavenge herself, but she also has to protect her children from danger. However, this heroic lioness overcame all the hardships that came her way. I just hope she finds a way somehow. <\/p>\n Words and Images by Mike Dexter<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #trap #caused #lose #part #hind #leg #robbed #speed #stealth #forcing #jump #Meet #threelegged #indomitable #survivor #Discover #wildlife<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The high-pitched chirping of cicadas echoes through the heavy air, and the forest behind us shimmers in the midday heat. The black-bellied dove, invisible in the tree canopy, urges me to work harder, work harder, work harder, but my wet shirt and red skin insist that I already am. The pigeons won and I continued … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[793,720,801,796,803,209,797,794,261,795,798,799,800,804,802,792,805],"class_list":["post-520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-caused","tag-discover","tag-forcing","tag-hind","tag-indomitable","tag-jump","tag-leg","tag-lose","tag-meet","tag-part","tag-robbed","tag-speed","tag-stealth","tag-survivor","tag-threelegged","tag-trap","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}lioness tripod<\/h2>\n
What happened to Tripod?<\/h2>\n
How did the Tripod survive?<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776466520_439_This-trap-caused-her-to-lose-the-lower-part-of.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776466520_838_This-trap-caused-her-to-lose-the-lower-part-of.jpg\")
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776466520_863_This-trap-caused-her-to-lose-the-lower-part-of.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776466520_873_This-trap-caused-her-to-lose-the-lower-part-of.jpg\")
![\"tripod\"](\"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776466520_158_This-trap-caused-her-to-lose-the-lower-part-of.jpg\")
\n