Three-legged lion takes 'record-breaking' swim across river in Uganda

A well-earned rest for these two lions, who researchers believe swam the longest distance ever recorded for the species.

A feat made even more remarkable by the fact one of the lions - Jacob - has only three legs, after losing one to a poacher's snare.

Using a drone, researchers filmed Jacob and his brother Tibu overcoming their natural aversion to water and paddling across the Kazinga Channel.

Such was their determination to find females, they ploughed on through waters teeming with crocodiles and hippos and arrived at the opposite bank, some 1.5 kilometers later.

Scientists who captured the moment described the event and their findings in a paper published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.

"So, from a behavioral standpoint, it's fascinating to see them cross such a large water body and over such a long distance," says Alexander Braczkowski, a conservation biologist working with Griffith University in Australia and Northern Arizona University.

"I think it's also a testament to a much larger problem, and it's a symptom of a much larger problem. And that's why animals are having to take much bigger risks in a human-dominated world," he adds.

Braczkowski believes Jacob and Tibu were forced to make the swim due to a lack of females in the national park.

Female lions are more susceptible to being killed by farmers in retaliation for the killing of cattle.

Researchers say that's led to males outnumbering lionesses.

A healthy lion population should have a ratio of two females to one male, but in Queen Elizabeth National Park, those numbers have been reversed, and there are twice as many males as females, says Braczkowski.

Jacob and Tibu had, in fact, lost a fight for dominance with other males just hours before deciding to make the remarkable swim to the opposite bank.

The big cats in total made three attempts to cross, all within the space of one hour.

The team also captured the second attempt on camera.

"It's pretty clear that something's trailing them. It's either a hippo or a Nile crocodile," says Braczkowski.

"That Kazinga Channel which essentially links the two lake systems of Lake Edward and Lake George, it's got a pretty high density of Nile crocodiles and hippos, which are both known to attack and even predate on lions."

"What you're seeing in those first few attempts is, you know, they're kind of scrubbing up the courage, probably encountering something in the water and then in that last attempt, they just say, okay, we're going. And, you know, they make that monstrous swim of over sort of a mile," adds Braczkowski.

Since they began tracking Jacob in 2017, he's been through a punishing ordeal, mostly at the hands of humans.

"This is an animal that was caught in a snare. He was saved from that snare. A year later, he lost that same leg that was trapped in the snare in a poacher's wheel trap, probably in the Congo. Then six months after that, his family was poisoned. His pride was essentially splintered in two. Shortly thereafter, he was gored by a buffalo," explains Braczkowski.

"Then he makes a 75-kilometre dispersal up north, trying to find territory with his two brothers, and loses a brother. And now, sort of we see him in the twilight of his life, taking the biggest risks of his life to try and, you know, pass on his genes. So, yeah, I think obviously, it's all the more remarkable that he's only got three legs.

"There's something about this particular lion that just says, I'm not going to give up."

Lions have been observed swimming before, notably in Zimbabwe and Botswana, but they're far less comfortable in the water than other big cats, such as jaguars and tigers, says Braczkowski.