Meet Samson

Samson is a classic black-maned Kalahari male lion that is believed to have wandered from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve west into large cattle farming operations. Here he began to prey on cattle and would have been shot but the Grassland Bushman Lodge team captured him and returned him to the park. He wandered out to the farms again and was once again captured. Now he lives with a captive pride of 3 adult female lions (believed to have been members of his original wild pride) in an 11 hectare enclosure.

Samson The Lion

Over the last 5 years the team from Grassland Bushman Lodge has captured lions and wild dogs that were destined to be shot by farmers. Some of these have been relocated back into the Central Kalahari Game Reserve while others have needed to be maintained in captivity as they returned to the farms after release. They are housed in a series of 11 hectare enclosures. Tourists to the lodge are able to drive into one lion enclosure as well as visit the wild dogs. In addition this lodge has one of the best interactive cultural programs with the bushmen people, as well as horseback riding, and an excellent locale to see the typical Kalahari wildlife species.

Grassland Bushman Lodge is the site of our captive research and the likely base of our field component. We are very happy to partner with them on this research and invite tourists to visit these magnificent animals who can help make a big difference in predator conservation.