By: Olivia Ho

On date, In the Queen Elizabeth National Park in XXX country, two lions were on their final attempt to cross the Kazinga channel. Their record breaking swim was for a special purpose.

The two lions were known as Jacob and Tibu. Despite a missing leg, lost in a poacher’s trap when Tibu was just a cub, the two lions miraculously succeeded in crossing the channel.

The events that led to their impressive crossing was tragic. Less than 12 hours earlier, the two brothers lost their territory and had no choice to cross the channel.

It took three attempts of crossing the hippo and crocodile infested channel to successfully reach the other side. By using a drone scientists assumed that a hippo or crocodile had been following them forcing them to go back to shore. “It was pretty dramatic,” says Alexander Braczkowski, a conservation biologist.

Although the lions did just lose their territory, the main reason why the two lions even attempted to take on this dangerous swim was to protect the lion population. Dr. Braczkowski says, “The males are not finding females in the area where they had tenure. The only females they can get to may be across the channel.”

In 2018 there were a total of 71 lions in the park. Now, just 40 remain, many poisoned by people who live nearby to protect their farm animals. Jacob and Tibu are an example of the many lions that live in the park, doing whatever it takes to find the few female lions to save its kind and all the while breaking a record that shouldn’t be broken in their case.