A YOUNG JACOB UP A TREE, WITH ALL HIS NINE LIVES STILL AHEAD OF HIM<\/p>\n
ALEX BRACZKOWSKI<\/p>\n
Our boat drifted through the Kazinga Channel, the waterway linking Lake George and Lake Edward in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park. Hippos surfaced around us, elephants sauntered along the water\u2019s edge, and an African fish eagle called overhead. But it wasn’t the animals I could see that occupied my mind; it was one particular lion I couldn’t.<\/p>\n
HIPPO AND BABY ON LAND, KAZINGA CHANNEL, UGANDA(Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler\/LightRocket via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
LightRocket via Getty Images<\/p>\n
ELEPHANTS PLAY IN THE KAZINGA CHANNEL, UGANDA<\/p>\n
N RAY<\/p>\n
Somewhere in the park, beyond this particular stretch of channel, was a three-legged male lion named Jacob who\u2019d done something almost unimaginable two years earlier. Under the cover of darkness, Jacob and his brother, Tibu, had slipped into the crocodile- and hippo-filled waters of the Kazinga Channel and swum more than a mile to the other side. The extraordinary crossing, captured on film by Luke Ochse and the Kyambura Lion Project, would later earn Jacob a place in the Guinness World Records. \u201cWe\u2019d speculated for a long time that lions in Queen Elizabeth were swimming across the Kazinga, but no one had ever captured this behavior visually,\u201d says Orin Cornille, a lion researcher from the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust<\/a>. <\/p>\n What makes that achievement extraordinary is that Jacob made the crossing on three legs. What makes it unforgettable is everything that came before.<\/p>\n Jacob The Lion<\/p>\n JACOB, AFTER LOSING HIS BACK LEFT FOOT IN A STEEL TRAP.<\/p>\n ALEX BRACZKOWSKI<\/p>\n Rescued from a poacher’s snare in 2019. Losing his back left leg in a steel trap during the COVID-19 pandemic. Surviving the poisoning of his family by poachers who were targeting lion body parts for the traditional medicine market. Gored in the chest by a buffalo. Withstanding territorial beatings from rival lions. Adapting to hunting on three legs. And finally, traversing almost 55 miles through the park, to Kazinga, where he would reunite with his brother. Most lions wouldn\u2019t have survived even one of those events. Jacob\u2019s survived them all. “He’s the real-life Rocky Balboa of lions,” says filmmaker Chadden Hunter, and that\u2019s a comparison that is difficult to argue with. <\/p>\n JACOB, WITH HIS BACK FOOT MISSING<\/p>\n ALEX BRACZKOWSKI<\/p>\n Hunter continues, \u201cWhen I first met Alex [Braczkowski], and he rattled through the trials and tribulations Jacob had suffered and survived, I went from being enthralled to drop-jawed. This one lion\u2019s life was a Shakespearean tragedy wrapped up in a Lord of the Rings adventure.\u201d Braczkowski, who has studied Jacob for years, adds, \u201cEvery chapter of his life presents something we didn’t think possible. That’s what defines him. An animal who keeps finding ways to survive against impossible odds\u2026 Jacob has had the most incredible journey and really is a cat with nine lives,” <\/p>\n JACOB IN THE FOREGROUND<\/p>\n ALEX BRACZKOWSKI<\/p>\n In a world often dominated by statistics and population trends, Jacob provides something rare: a living individual whose story helps people connect emotionally with broader conservation and environmental challenges. That connection is powerful. People may not remember facts, figures, flow charts, population estimates and other data, but they do remember Jacob. He\u2019s become one of the most incredible symbols of wildlife resilience anywhere in Africa, and as such, he\u2019s just about to step into the spotlight and star in a new wildlife documentary, \u201cNine Lives\u201d. With a Kickstarter page<\/a> for those wishing to support the project.<\/p>\n Queen Elizabeth National Park<\/p>\n Located in western Uganda, between Lake George and Lake Edward, Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of Uganda\u2019s most biologically diverse protected landscapes. The park is famous for its tree-climbing lions, enormous hippo populations, chimpanzee tracking, volcanic crater lakes, wetlands and savannah ecosystems. <\/p>\n A YOUTHFUL JACOB WITH ALL HIS NINE LIVES STILL AHEAD OF HIM<\/p>\n ALEX BRACZKOWSKI<\/p>\n But beneath this picture postcard imagery lies a more complicated reality. The park’s wildlife exists within a human-dominated landscape where growing populations, poaching pressures and habitat challenges create constant conservation pressures, particularly for the lions. \u201cOver sixty thousand people live within Queen Elizabeth’s boundaries\u2026 That’s the real conservation challenge we need to solve,\u201d Braczkowski tells me. He adds, \u201cWhen we conducted our first survey<\/a> in 2018, we documented 72 lions in Queen Elizabeth. Our census with the Ugandan government in 2022 revealed numbers had collapsed<\/a> to 39.\u201d <\/p>\n JACOB AND HIS BROTHER, TIBU, PREPARE FOR TO HUNT<\/p>\n ALEX BRACZKOWSKI<\/p>\n JACOB SUCCESSFULLY MATING<\/p>\n ALEX BRACZKOWSKI<\/p>\n Against that backdrop, Jacob’s swimming feats across the Kazinga Channel takes on an even greater significance. “Jacob and his brother were searching for the last breeding females in the park,\u201d Braczkowski says. \u201cHis fight for fatherhood is also a fight for the future of lions in Uganda.” <\/p>\n JACOB, THE LION WITH NINE LIVES<\/p>\n ALEX BRACZKOWSKIThe Science Behind The Story<\/p>\n The man most closely associated with documenting Jacob’s life is Dr. Alexander Braczkowski. He\u2019s been following Jacob for 10 years now. As conservation biologist, National Geographic Explorer, and researcher affiliated with Griffith University<\/a>, Braczkowski has spent years studying lions and predator ecology in Uganda. His research has revealed important insights into how lions are adapting to increasing environmental pressures, including in Queen Elizabeth National Park, where lions are often forced to travel longer and longer distances, navigate fragmented landscapes and compete intensely for territory and mates. <\/p>\n The Kyambura Lion Monitoring Project<\/p>\n