Jacob And Tibu Lions Record-Breaking Swim crossing the Kazinga Channel
Jacob And Tibu Lions Record-Breaking Swim crossing the Kazinga Channel. The Kazinga Channel is a roughly mile-long river in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, that is home to crocodiles and hippos. Two male lions, Tibu and Jacob, recently gained attention for their record-breaking night swim across the channel. Five further times they repeated the process. For what reasons did the two brothers repeatedly risk death on this treacherous voyage? They wanted to find a partner.
The remarkable swimming abilities of these two legendary lions were documented in a paper co-authored by Dr. Peter Lindsey, Director of the Lion Recovery Fund. At 1.5 kilometers wide, the Kazinga Channel is the greatest stretch of water that lions have ever been observed swimming. That in and of itself would have been remarkable, but the presence of hippos and crocodiles in the river—animals that can grow to be as big as two male lions—makes the whole thing even more astounding. On top of everything else, Jacob, one of the brothers, had to have a limb amputated after escaping a poacher’s trap.
African lions make record-breaking swim in crocodile-infested waters
Two male lions, Tibu and Jacob Successfully Swimming The Kazinga Channel
The utmost necessity is the only reason these lions would incur such extreme danger, according to Peter and his co-authors. The brothers had just lost a territorial dispute with another set of males, so crossing the river to new area was their last chance of locating females. This was an hour before they were about to swim. They seemed to be attempting to avoid human contacts while exploring new territories, in addition to their urge to secure reproductive opportunities.
After two aborted efforts, the brothers managed to cross the Kazinga in a terrifying 45 minutes on their third attempt. At that moment, the team led by the paper’s co-author, Dr. Alexander Braczkowski, detected what seemed to be a crocodile’s heat signature on the cameras as the brothers swam. Thankfully, no attacks were attempted against the lions as they got it to land.
The life expectancy of a lion is low, and the main priorities of a male lion are protecting his territory and getting the chance to reproduce. Tibu and Jacob’s incredible swimming skills illustrate how crucial these requirements are for male lions. Before this incident, the longest known swimming distance for a lion was under 1,000 ft. Reproduction is of the utmost importance for male lions, particularly those with injuries like Jacob, who could not have the same lifespan as their healthy counterparts. Unfortunately, locals poisoned numerous female lions, leading to a male-to-female ratio problem at Queen Elizabeth National Park. It is natural that Tibu and Jacob would take a chance in order to find new partners, given that the park is currently home to twice as many guys as girls.
The lion population in the park has declined due to the thousands of cattle and high poaching rate brought in by the area’s around 60,000 residents, according to Braczkowski. Lions have fewer places to look for mates or new territory as a result of human activities and habitat loss or fragmentation.
“Africa’s most resilient lion” makes record-breaking swim through crocodile-filled waters
Jacob And Tibu Lions Successfully Swimming The Kazinga Channel
Many countries in Africa are seeing their lion numbers shrink owing to these factors, according to Peter. “Over the last 25 or 30 years, they declined by about half. And they’re currently constrained to around eight percent of their historical range,” he says. “We know the tools that work to conserve, that we just need to raise enough funding to do so.”
The Lion Recovery Fund has funded the Wildlife Conservation Society in Queen Elizabeth National Park to handle human-lion conflict that can lead to lion mortality, as well as encouraged their collaborations with law enforcement to prevent poaching in the park. These efforts, coupled with some extraordinary luck and resilience, will give Tibu and Jacob the best shot possible at thriving in their new home.
For more information, read the complete article of Tibu and Jacob’s swim. You can also read more of Peter’s thoughts on the lions’ standing in Africa.
