00:26As many of you will know, I have worked with lions
00:28Almost three decades
00:30And I can tell you that the most important conversations
00:36That I've had with lions
00:37Are the ones where no language has been spoken
00:43But the language has been quiet
00:46So many a time I've been there sitting with the lions
00:51And then there's just this affectionate head rub
00:55That's come out of nowhere
00:56A paw reaching out and touching me
01:01And then the paw resting on my lap
01:04I would say there pretty much are around five
01:08Maybe six kind of cues or body languages
01:15Which under each heading there's a few things that can go under
01:22But obviously with the lions the cues are touch
01:28So that's kind of self-explanatory
01:32Touching with the paws
01:34Touching with the body
01:37Licking
01:39Then there's the facial expressions
01:41So that's a very important one
01:45I include the ears in that
01:48Because the ears are part of a facial expression
01:50That's the eyes, the nose, the mouth
01:52Cheeks
01:54Ears
01:56Then we have the tail
01:58The tail
02:00Tells a tale
02:01So pay close attention to the tail
02:04At the moment their tails are
02:07I just want to catch up with them
02:08I just want to show you the tails
02:10On the shadow
02:11Their tails are pretty relaxed
02:14Not doing anything
02:15Just hanging down
02:17That's a chilled cat
02:19And that tail starts to swish
02:25Something to look out for
02:26Or if that tail is very stiff
02:29It's also something to look out for
02:32A raised tail can be excitement for a greeting
02:35So there's a lot of information that we can gather from the tail
02:41Then another important one is
02:44Synchronized behavior
02:45So at the moment
02:48I would say this is pretty synchronized
02:51Behavior
02:53Look what they're both doing
02:55Both walking
02:56They're both walking with a purpose
02:59They're both walking together
03:01That says something
03:04They're not fighting
03:06They're not agitated
03:08They're on a mission
03:10And
03:11They're pretty bonded
03:15Another example of synchronized behavior
03:17Would be when
03:18You see like in the case of Thor's group
03:21You see six lions are walking along
03:22One lion
03:24Lies down
03:25Next thing all six lions
03:27Are lying down
03:28That's a synchronized behavior
03:30The last category is something
03:32That I did touch on earlier
03:33When
03:34George was
03:35Rubbing and marking the bushes
03:36And that's the
03:37The scent marking
03:39So the
03:40There's a
03:41A chemical cue
03:51The scent cues guys
03:53Or the scent marking
03:54It also
03:55So not only is the scent marking
03:57To ward off
03:57Other
04:00Would be challenges
04:01Or to just let
04:03Other lions know
04:04That they've
04:05Patrolled the
04:07Area
04:08But
04:09We've all seen
04:10When
04:11The lions
04:12Get off
04:14Rolling in
04:15In the different
04:16Pheromone
04:17Filled poo
04:18And we see them
04:20All
04:22Getting all euphoric
04:24Rolling around in
04:26Elephant dung
04:27And rhino dung
04:28And fresh
04:29Giraffe dung
04:30And zebra poo
04:31They love it
04:34And then
04:34You'll see them all
04:37Flopping on top of each other
04:38And bonding
04:40So they reaffirm bonds
04:42In that way too
04:43So the scent
04:44Cue is a very important one
04:48They're not making a noise
04:51They might let off a few
04:53Little grunts and groans
04:55Of happiness
04:56But it's certainly not
05:00Vocal
05:00Like humans
05:01I think
05:02One thing
05:03That I know
05:05I'm gonna
05:07Just pick up on this again
05:09Because
05:09You know
05:10In the past
05:11I have been accused
05:12Of talking too much
05:13And I know
05:15That's been put to rest
05:17Because a lot of you
05:17In fact the majority of you
05:19Said
05:19Without me talking
05:21There's no context
05:21To the video
05:22So today's video
05:24Would mean nothing
05:25To just be visuals
05:27Of lions walking
05:27If it wasn't for me
05:29Giving you context
05:30As to
05:31What's going on
05:32In terms of the
05:33Body language
05:34The
05:34Unspoken language
05:36So
05:36Yeah
05:37I've always said
05:38That I am the
05:39I'm the conjured
05:40Oh
05:42Okay now watch
05:43Watch watch watch
05:44What's gonna happen
05:46There we go
06:04I'm the conjured
06:05I'm the conjured
06:09I'm the conjured
06:09I'm the conjured
06:11I'm the conjured
06:12I'm the conjured
06:12I'm the conjured
06:13I'm the conjured
06:13I'm the conjured
06:14I'm the conjured
06:16I'm the conjured
06:28yeah always Thor's group sets everyone off so yeah let's just give guys some context
06:39as to what happened here so George and Yama have been on a long walk and they've come up to
06:44a particular point it's a corner we call it the southern corner and the end camp is generally
06:53a camp that Thor's group tends to like because it's away from everyone else it's next door to
06:59the striped hyena so there's no lines to irritate him but when a lion like Yama who is a lion
07:08in his
07:08prime look at the face you see what he did there hello my boy he's reaffirming his bond with me
07:22that is awesome so what he's saying is I'm I'm his tribe he didn't really talk he just gave a
07:31little
07:32bit of a oh but he showed me he showed me visually through his face and through touch that I'm
07:53his
07:53tribe he didn't tell me hey Kev you're my tribe I could see it and that's after a roaring episode
08:03so him and George were both roaring telling Thor where he can go and fly his cart and then after
08:13the roaring he came up to me and he said hey Kev you're part of my tribe and that's cool
08:20and that
08:20as I say it was through through the touch the rub and obviously also through
08:29the face I could see his face his face was very endearing so yeah very different to Yama's face when
08:38he's super pissed off and aggravated I mean I've got to get a picture of it I'm sure I will
08:44when he
08:44sees the hyenas now we're walking around we're going to see the hyenas and you'll see his face is going
08:48to get all tight at the moment his face is nice and relaxed look at his face
09:00and a head rub cheek rub so I always in the past you guys have heard me talk about
09:10the importance of the head bump and I was obviously with Meg and Icarus I was always holding out for
09:19that head bump and we waited a very very long time but when the head bump came I was so
09:28super stoked
09:28and why is that because that is one of the sincerest forms of affection from a lion they have scent
09:41glands in their cheeks and it's almost like they're rubbing their scent on you and you're both kind of giving
09:48your scent on each other and it's really an endearing sentiment so when Yama head bumps me or George head
09:58bumps me
09:58it's like wow man you don't get better than that that's like somebody telling you hey buddy I love you
10:05you're my best friend and I cannot imagine life without you
10:10that's that's a lion's way of saying that which is fantastic
10:26okay look at the body language look at the face yeah they hear their favorite spot taunting the hyenas
10:37and in particular this group they don't like this group hello bongo ticker kiddo
10:52quiddy quiddy quiddy
10:59look at his tail
11:30see the toe
11:31see the toe
12:01see the toe
12:02see the toe
12:02see the toe
12:31tell us about uh lion sentience okay um what this tells us is that lions have emotional depth
12:39and i would say silent communication uh proves social intelligence so silent communication is
12:48proof of um social intelligence in my opinion and um these i suppose these interactions mirror
12:59um aspects of human relationships uh i'm not anthropomorphizing lions i'm not humanizing
13:08lions but what i am saying is we are meant to be socially intelligent and you know a lot of
13:16the
13:16body posturing that they do mirrors humans so it is an indication of um of intelligence
13:25um and its sentience is is basically shown in its subtlety um you know you you cannot look at a
13:36lion and not say that they are sentient creature capable of emotions um and feelings etc and now
13:42this is why i always say that if a lion must live in captivity uh they must at least be
13:47allowed to
13:47express um themselves socially and so um yeah because you know these these um silent uh um
14:02communications are are basically their emotions of life hello my boy there he goes gives me a rub again
14:10and he's gonna do it not only a rub he's got ah what's in your mane you got like all
14:16these thorns he's
14:17got all these little burrs in his mane can i get them out can i get them out can i
14:25get them out can i
14:25get them out yeah what is this in your hair okay he's got all these burrs all these burrs
14:36he's been very affectionate don't knock over my camera
14:45he's also been very affectionate tell him a big boy and he's floppy down that's a nice sign of affection
14:51there put that camera over there
14:57give you a belly but a belly rub there no no don't knock the camera over
15:03yeah
15:16hmm
15:16hmm
15:34okay guys so i'm just waiting for george to come pick us up
15:38and i would actually like to encourage you the next time you have the privilege of being out in
15:45the wild observing lions if you have that privilege i encourage you to not wait for that roar or you
15:54know those vocalizations that they do but just to sit there in silence and look at what's going on
16:00because i think if you pay enough attention that is where the real story lies
16:07so
16:15so
16:21so
16:24so
16:29so
16:35so
16:40so
16:51so
17:10thanks to each and every one of you and until next time from me kevin
17:14joe jeniamme bye
