Yes, you were right, we are lions. In the dry Samburu area of northern Kenya, we don't usually get up into trees. This past year, though, there were very heavy rains due to el Nino. You wouldn't think rain would bother us, and again you are right. It wasn't the rain but the effects of the rain that caused us to claw our way to the top.
Nature is sort of like a mobile that hangs from the ceiling.
When a new element is added, it changes the balance and some adjustments are needed to make it stable again. When el Nino dumped unusual amounts of rain in our usually dry area, the grass grew long and green, and many pools of water were left lying around. These were wonderful breeding grounds for biting, blood sucking flies. The new, wet conditions allowed many generations of flies to breed in a short period of time. We lions usually sleep in the grass under the trees and in the gullies which are natural catchments for water.