No, he though, no, he could do this, he could resist his hunger, he would be thin again, no matter what Nala said. Nevertheless, he was hungry, and tried to think of a way to deal with it. Finally, he decided he had to eat, but so he wouldn't be tempted to gorge, he'd take one slice of meat and eat it in the far corner of the enclosure.

"Finally hungry then are we," Nala asked as she saw Epesi make his way over to his bowl, "tuck in."

Epesi didn't reply, seemingly preoccupied, and Nala saw him pick up a single steak, and head for the far corner of the pen. Well it seemed she'd been wrong, Epesi really was working to be thin again.

Nala was considering whether to try another way of plumping Epesi up, when her stomach rumbled, interrupting her train of thought. The cheetah had taken but a single steak, leaving the other two in the bowl, and after more than a week of strictly regulating her own weight, the lion cub was quite hungry.