History's most brutal killers, the Majingilane Male Lions

[Fredymrt]

3-tooth and Dark Maned in Sabi Sabi april 12, 2013

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Hip Scar and floppy ear female(southern pride female)
July 18,2013 photo by Gareth poole Kirkman's kamp

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A DAY TO REMEMBER
BY: STEVE VOLKWYN (BUSH LODGE RANGER)
December 19, 2013

"With the sun setting and the mood on the vehicle incredibly joyous we decided to make our way to where 3 male lions had been seen that morning. Heaviness and I were chatting to try and think and guess if it would be the Sand River males or the Majingilane male coalition, possibly the strongest male lion coalition in the Sabi Sands. As we arrived into the last known position of the males, we were all buzzing with excitement of the unknown, we turned left and all of a sudden the unmistakable size, mane colour and shear aura of the Majingilane males hit us. We watched as the males slowly started to yawn, stretch and start to groom each other and then decide to do what male lions often do best, go back to sleep. We decided now that the lure of Bush Lodge’s cuisine was growing and we decided to leave the males out in the open clearing and head back for a wonderful dinner.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Heaviness picked up his spotlight to start guiding me out and back to the road; it was no longer than one rotation of spotlight before I heard, “Leopard.” I was shocked – how could there be a leopard within 60 meters of these three huge male lions. On a closer look it was a female known as Little Bush female. She stood there in awe, much like us when we first saw these three majestic males.
Shortly after she started to slink away, carefully looking back and up all the large trees for potential escape routes. Little Bush female slowly moved off along the treeline with us following closely behind watching her scent mark and patrolling her territory. All of a sudden Heaviness dropped the spotlight off her and told me to turn all my lights off immediately, what was happening? I was completely unclear as to what was happening and was asking a flurry of questions. Heaviness picked up the spotlight and told me there was a lion 20 meters away from my vehicle. I could not believe this – it was the three Majingilane males stalking her, getting closer and closer as we sat in the dark. Our minds were going crazy with imagination of what was happening as we could hear the males creep through the nearby grass. There was a sudden burst and explosion from the bushes, we went lights on immediately, Little Bush female was nowhere to be seen and the three males were slightly out of breath, they regrouped and started grooming one another.

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Words cannot describe the pure enthusiasm, shock and excitement on our vehicle, we all high fived and decided that the Bush Lodge bar was highly needed for some serious celebration drinks. What a day!." Reply