The lions weren't hungry that Monday. Not that it was any of my business. It had nothing to do with me that time. That time, it was all down to Pema. Well, Pema and his father.
To a lot of folks the idea that lions could ever be 'not hungry' seems absurd. People get raised on a diet of natural history specials and expect the lions to behave like they do on the screen. Like they're gonna be these wild beasts that are ravenous all of the time. Really, it ain't like that.
In the wild, lions sometimes only eat twice a week, so they are used to going days without a meal, it's just that when they do eat they have a helluva big meal. When folks see the 'feeding times' at the zoo it should really only be called 'snack time'. The lions get other, regular feeds that the punters don't see, before the park even opens. Plus, if I'm on shift on the right night between feeds, they get some extra top up treats from me. I've got it so that they know me, and they come to expect it...
