Eye on you

QANTHONY GREEN from Stellenbosch writes: While we were in the Kgalagadi, we stopped for coffee at the Cubitje Quap waterhole near Nossob. I almost choked on my coffee when two lions appeared out of nowhere for a drink of water. One lioness had a blue eye. At the time, I assumed this was due to heterochromia – when an animal (or human) has two different coloured irises. But when I looked at my photos later, it seemed like the blue eye had been injured. It reminded me of a cat we had years ago that had to have one of its eyes removed. At the time, the vet told me the cat would no longer be able to hunt because cats rely on stereoscopic vision and need both eyes to catch prey. But the anaesthesia had barely worn off when the cat caught a dove! It went on to live a long and happy life – having only one eye didn’t seem to hold it back. Besides the blue eye, the lioness was in excellent condition. Would the male have been hunting for the both of them?

AWildlife expert LD VAN ESSEN says: Lions seem to handle the loss of sight in one eye better than other predators. Maybe this is because they’re social animals that mostly hunt in groups. They also don’t have to climb trees and can therefore better accommodate the loss of depth perception. The lioness in this picture has a good chance of survival because she’s mostly likely part of a pride. The coloration of her eye could also be due to a condition called keratoconjunctivitis. If this is the case, the infection should clear up over time, sometimes causing scarring.