Those who are familiar with Welgevonden has ten to one heard or seen of a famous male lion called “Hanglip”. Now firstly the reason for this name is that quite some time ago this handsome young lion took his chances at catching a zebra, needless to say, he wasn’t very successful. Instead of catching the zebra, he managed to get his front teeth kicked out, his incisors bent and his lip is on a permanent droop (thus the name Hanglip) and I do believe his ego took quit some bruising too!

So our story starts with a normal afternoon drive in Welgevonden where we were treated with many beautiful sightings such as rhino and elephant. Nearing our last half hour of the game drive I located some very fresh male lion tracks and decided to follow them. After only a few minutes we managed to locate the owner of the tracks, and wouldn’t u believe it, it was Hanglip. He was lying very close to the car but amongst the rocks, he shortly got up and moved a few meters and started sniffing the ground at some lioness urine. Now when most male animals want to mate, they first do something called flehmen, that’s when they lick a females urine and press it against a special organ in the mouth that analysis it, in doing so they normally stand with a open  mouth and a rather silly grin, so picture this deformed lion standing there with properly the worst smile ever only a few meters away from the vehicle! Myself and the guests could not help but to burst out in laughter at this sight. When the laughter died down to a giggle Hanglip gave us a quick glance (almost as if saying watch this) walked over to one of the bigger rocks, and wouldn’t you know it, a beautiful lioness came from behind it and all lovingly rubbed up against him. Shows you it’s not all about looks!