Gored by buffalo and poisoned by poachers, Uganda’s famous ‘lion with nine lives’ has cheated death numerous times \u2013 and now he has been filmed swimming across the predator-infested Kazinga Channel. <\/p>
A record-breaking swim by two African lion brothers across a predator-infested river has been filmed by scientists in Uganda.<\/strong><\/p> The big cats<\/a> \u2013\u00a0a 10-year-old local icon known as Jacob and his brother Tibu \u2013 crossed the Kazinga Channel in the Queen Elizabeth National Park at night. <\/p> Researchers who captured the incredible feat on high-definition heat detection cameras attached to drones say that Jacob has already survived numerous life-threatening incidents, one of which left him with an amputated leg.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cJacob has had the most incredible journey and really is a cat with nine lives,\u201d said Dr Alexander Braczkowski from Griffith University<\/a>, who led a team that filmed the channel crossing.<\/p> Previous reported swims by African lions<\/a> have ranged from a few metres to a couple of hundred metres, some of which resulted in deaths by crocodile<\/a> attacks. The researchers, who worked under the supervision of the Uganda Wildlife Authority<\/a>, believe that the lion brothers’ 1.5km swim across the Kazinga Channel is a record-breaker.<\/p> \u201cHis swim, across a channel filled with high densities of hippos and crocodiles, is a record-breaker and is a truly amazing show of resilience in the face of such risk,\u201d said\u00a0Braczkowski, who has been running a long-term study of African lions and other predators<\/a> in Queen Elizabeth and several other Ugandan National Parks.<\/p> His swim, across a channel filled with high densities of hippos and crocodiles, is a record-breaker and is a truly amazing show of resilience in the face of such risk.<\/p><\/blockquote> \u201cI\u2019d bet all my belongings that we are looking at Africa\u2019s most resilient lion: he has been gored by a buffalo, his family was poisoned for lion body part trade<\/a>, he was caught in a poacher\u2019s snare, and finally lost his leg in another attempted poaching incident where he was caught in a steel trap.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cThe fact that he and his brother Tibu have managed to survive as long as they have in a national park that has experienced significant human pressures and high poaching rates is a feat in itself \u2013 our science has shown this population has nearly halved in just 5 years.”<\/p>