19/08/2026
The elusive "Tree Climbing Lions of Lake Nakuru"
As promised, this is the last "tagged" post from this set. I really hope you have enjoyed seeing these, and thank you for looking. I will be posting more, but I won't be tagging them, so keep an eye on my pages if you would like to see them!
As it's August, and I am a Leo, what better animal to post than a lion?
On our January trip, we stopped over at Lake Nakuru for one night in between Samburu and Masai Mara. I wanted to stop here for many reasons, not least hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous "tree climbing lions". Lions are often sighted in Lake Nakuru National Park, but it's more difficult to find them climbing trees. On an evening drive when we arrived, our guide was taking us to some places where these lions have been known to climb the trees. As we approached one spot, we saw that there were a few vans and jeeps parked up, so we had a feeling that we knew what they were stopping for. As we drew close, our guide confirmed our suspicions. Through a gap in the trees to our right, off across a sizeable patch of scrubland, there it was! Perched high on a fallen tree, obscured slightly in haze, dust & mist, was the unmistakeable shape of... a butt and tail! Encouraging, as it was clearly a large male lion sleeping on the tree, but initially slightly disappointing all the same. We got some quick shots for insurance, just in case we wouldn't have another opportunity, and then we parked up, out of everyone else's way, but where we could still see it. I explained to our guide where we would like to be if things developed, then we bided our time, and let everyone else enjoy their sighting in the meantime. After a while, vehicles started leaving, and we were able to get into the position where we wanted to be, which thankfully, was not where the other vehicles wanted to be, but we needed to get past some of them to get there. As time passed, the vehicles left one by one to get to the park gates before closing time, eventually leaving us alone, and as we were staying inside the park, we could perfect our position and wait a little bit longer. The haze thickened and thinned in turn, and getting sharp shots of this magnificent butt and tail, (and sometimes an ear), at this distance wasn't always possible. Then - without warning, the butt flipped around, and the lion attached to it stood up, blinked, shook his head, and then started calling out, the deep guttural calls echoing in the trees. Then once more, it changed its position, looked out past us, and called out again, bellowing into the evening. This was a spine tingling moment, as the visibility went through the cycle of terrible to decent as the haze and dust danced its merry dance. It was extremely difficult to control a camera with all fingers and toes crossed while praying for enough shots where most of the haze was behind the lion rather than in front of him. The light stayed quite soft for most of this, and then he sat back down on his "throne", looking out past us as if without a care in the world. As he sat there, we waited, just in case there might be another development, and sure enough, just before sunset, the sun broke through the clouds over our right shoulders, and lit up the scene, and sometimes only the resting lion, sat atop the dead tree. Of all of the lion sightings I have had, this is possibly my favourite. The hairs still stand up on the back of my neck when I remember it. Out of thousands of frames taken, these are a few of my favourite ones.
Why do they climb trees? Some lions have been known to occasionally climb trees elsewhere, but not as habitually and pretty much pervasively across the population as in Lake Nakuru.
There are many theories as to why they do this.
- One is that they climb off the ground to avoid the large herds of Water Buffalo in the area, which can be a danger to lions sleeping on the ground. Water buffalo are known as "Black Death" for a reason. They are skittish animals, and therefore unpredictable.
- A second theory is that it is to avoid sleeping on the often damp ground in the area. As we experienced, even during a heatwave, there can be quite a haze and dew-fall in the green areas in the evenings.
- Another is that by getting higher off the ground, they avoid the biting flies that are drawn to herds of large bovids, like cattle or buffalo. It is said that these bites can be annoying or even painful. I can definitely confirm that they are both. Think: Horseflies or cleggs in large numbers!
Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed these as much I have enjoyed sharing them. 🙂
For the gear heads:
Canon EOS R5 Mkii
Canon RF 200-800mm F/6.3 - 9 IS USM
Mostly full frame, one of them is slightly cropped. I think I prefer the full frame to be honest.
Canon Ireland Canon EMEA Pro Canon UK PermaJet
