We have all had some interaction with lions at least once or twice in our lives, be it at a zoo or in the bush. We at Sabi Sabi spend a little more time with them than usual seeing as we have the opportunity almost every day. We all know them to be fearsome beasts who can kill massive buffalo and giraffe, their powerful bodies allowing them to effortlessly cross expanses of land in seconds and their huge leaps trick one into thinking they are flying. But lions that we see today are nothing like they were many many years ago.

What follows is the tale of when Lion could fly.

Many moons ago, the first lion had the power of flight. All of the animals both of the air and of the land feared Lion because of this ability and none were safe from his awesome might. His abode was a cave carved out of the rock atop a tall mountain, at the base of this mountain lying scattered were the bones of his conquests.

Lion had stolen a sack of magic seeds that the ancestors were distributing to all the birds before they could complete their task. Vulture and Ostrich were the last in line and had not yet been given their share. Thus with Vulture being flightless, Lion pressed two into his service to guard his bone yard for they were ugly and no one cared to approach them. Lion kept this sack of seeds hidden beneath the tallest pile of bones in his bone yard and hoped his two vultures could keep all at bay.

One morning after Lion had left to go off on a hunt, Bullfrog approached the amassed bones at the foot of Lions lair and began to scatter them far and wide. The vultures were so taken aback by this that at first they did not know what to do. It was too late by the time they tried to chase Bullfrog off and the tallest of the mounds had been reduced to the floor. Bullfrog ran off shouting over his shoulder “Let your master see the destruction I have wrought and let it be known to him that it was I who was the instrument of this chaos, why should we all live in fear of one! Let him know that I will face his wroth at the watering hole North of here and that I do not fear him.”

The vultures were now petrified of what Lion would enact on them upon his return and so looked for a hiding place amongst the bones scattered around them. In their search they came across Lion’s hidden seeds and devoured them, upon discovering their new power of flight they took off and soared high up above the mountain.

At the same time Lion was stalking a massive buffalo and was about to swoop up above him so as to make use of the sun to surprise him. Just as Lion took off, his magic failed and he fell into a bush of thorns, Buffalo heard the commotion and chased Lion off. Running with all his strength back to his lair in a blind rage he came upon the scene of destruction that was his magnificent bone yard and scanned the area for clues as to what happened.

From high above he spied the two vultures who he had tasked with guarding his lair. They swooped nearer and imparted Bullfrogs message to Lion. When they had finished Lion rushed to the watering hole and from a distance away spotted Bullfrog basking on the bank of the watering hole. Lion decide to try stalk Bullfrog and snuck closer, but Bullfrog could see Lion’s reflection in the water and kept moving just out of Lions reach. This enraged Lion even more.

Bullfrog sprang off and in glee shouted to Lion “See now Lion you are bound to the earth just as we are and will have to become used to our way of life! No longer will we be subject to your terror!” Dejectedly Lion slunk off and lay in the shadow of the mountain that was once his magnificent lair, plotting his revenge on Bullfrog.

That is why to this day Lion attempts a massive leap when attacking, and does not let vultures near his kill.