Lion tales

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The old Gomondwane male lions

Whenever there pop up reports about a coalition of six adult male lions they use to cover the famous Mapogo lions most of the time and there’s nothing to blame about it. After all an occurrence of six males at once is beyond rare. So to bring a bit more variety into the discussion we would like to literally dig out the southern Kruger counterpart of the Mapogo coalition that ruled the southern section for many years: The six Gomondwane male lions. 

Not that much is officially known about this coalition, vast parts are blank papers inside a book. Approximately born around 2005/6 the six males established a territory that at the peak of their power ranged from Crocodile Bridge along the Gomomdwane Loop and the H4-2 to the S130 close to Lower Sabie. Within that area they had control of the Vurhami pride, the Gomondwane pride as well as the Shishangeni pride. This alliance with the aforementioned prides led among others to the birth and rise of the powerful Shishangeni males as well as the current seven Gomondwane males who established a territory inside the Shishangeni concession. The decline of the coalition had its start in 2011 when they lost one member due to a fatal injury inflicted by a buffalo. Unimpressed and without being much influenced by this loss they went on for four more years till the milky eyed male, famous for his aggressive manner, disappeared without a trace. After two losses and after they were ousted by their own sons, the Shishangeni males, the old Gomondwane coalition appeared to scatter more and more with less and less sightings and information became rarer with every day. As a result their last days seem to be more of an unclear puzzle with combining different pieces and hints than clear confirmed facts. While one of them was sighted with a broken leg in 2018, an injury he soon succumbed to, it seems another one of them spent his remaining time in the company of the young Gomondwane males in 2017 and 2018 with sporadic other appearances. In 2020 it’s now quite save to say that all six males have passed away, not before leaving a great and intact legacy behind that continues to dominate almost the entire south-east area of Kruger. 

KNP
Photo credits: Ronesh Parbhoo

From "Lions Of The African Wildlife" facebook page. 

*This image is copyright of its original author

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