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History's most brutal killers, the Majingilane Male Lions
History's most brutal killers, the Majingilane Male Lions
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History's most brutal killers, the Majingilane Male Lions
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Photo Credits: etienne oosthuizen
Dark Mane (Singita Sabi sands june 2017)  *This image is copyright of its original author
Majingilane males (Dark Mane and Golden Mane) - Londolozi Reserve - June 16,2017
This week saw the return of the Majingalane Coalition into the centre of Londolozi, responding to the calls of the Avoca males, who have been sighted on Londolozi in recent times. The two coalitions did not meet up in the end though and the Majingilane headed back west without any interaction. Photo by: Nick Kleer  *This image is copyright of its original author
Photo taken by taydenm
June 19, 2017  *This image is copyright of its original author Up close and personal
Photo credit sueholyoak
"Scar Face, a handsome but battle Male lion, Sabi Sands, Sth Africa"  *This image is copyright of its original author
Why Did The Majingilane Return?: by Amy Attenborough.
Londolozi has become a sort of ground zero for male lions at the moment. The departure of the Matimba males, the arrival of the two Avoca males, the surprise appearance of the Birmingham coalition and the pushing of the Matshipiri males into the more eastern sections of Londolozi are all just slow-burning fuses for what may turn out to be a major detonation. Despite the three Majingilane males having relinquished their territorial hold over Londolozi two years ago, even they seem unable to resist urges to re-enter the fray. It leaves us questioning though, “what is going through the minds of the Majingilane?” The three Majingilane males as they head eastwards, responding to the calls of the Avoca males. Photograph by Peter Thorpe.  *This image is copyright of its original author One of the Avoca coalition as he roars around the Londolozi camps one morning. Notice how substantially less developed his mane is than the Majingilane males. Although these males have been able to pressurise the Matshipiri males, it seems they are less keen to take on the Majingilane. Photograph by Vedant Thite.  *This image is copyright of its original author The Birmingham male coalition made an appearance in the northern sections of Londolozi as well this week. Could they be looking to expand territory? Should they do so, it will only further confuse the already upset lion dynamics on Londolozi at the moment. Only time will tell if they continue to push south. Photograph by Nick Kleer.  *This image is copyright of its original author During the night of 13 June, the Majingilane’s bellowing roars were heard heading closer and closer to the Londolozi camps. As dawn broke, they were found on our airstrip and were followed south and east throughout the morning as they steadily marched in the last known direction of the Avoca males, calling all the way. They eventually lay down to rest in some shade at the edge of a clearing in the centre of Londolozi and only got going again later that evening. The intensity with which they responded to the Avoca males’ calls and the effort they made to head from their position substantially north and west of us, had us thinking that maybe they were really up for a fight this time. The next morning though, we found them close to the river again, silently on their way back west to the core of their territory. wo of the Majingilane found moving with purpose on the morning of June 13. Photograph by Nick Kleer.  *This image is copyright of its original author Why did they bother coming all this way, if they didn’t plan to stay? If they were that fazed by the presence of the Avoca males, why did they not follow them further eastwards? Are they planning to re-gain territory that they ceded two years ago or are they just wanting to create a buffer between their territory and the tug of war currently going on between the various coalitions on Londolozi? Are these well thought out tactics or just a knee-jerk reaction to the calls of other males? To be honest, we really can’t know for sure. These males would call, stop to listen for a response before continuing on again. They eventually lay down to rest in the centre of Londolozi, which is as far east as they ventured during this visit. Photograph by Peter Thorpe.  *This image is copyright of its original author Although this coalition of three is still a formidable force, it does seem like their days of actively fighting for or expanding their territory are over. Even James Tyrrell, the world’s most avid Majingilane supporter, was reportedly heard saying, “it seems that they’re just not the coalition they once were”. Quite something coming from James who has spent the last six years convinced of their immortality. At their current age, I think the only time we may now see these Majingilane really commit to a fight would be if another group of males decide to move into the western portions of the Sabi Sands. This would essentially squash the Majingilane into the edge of their territory at the edge of the park, forcing them to fight. Having associated with the Mhangeni pride and having sired cubs with these females, the Majingilane are under no pressure to push back east and it seems that their appearance on Londolozi may have just been a show of muscle as opposed to a real challenge. Whatever the case, it seems to have done the trick, as we haven’t seen or heard from the Avoca males since then. Despite their swift response, the Majingilane turned and headed back west the following morning, returning Londolozi to relative calm once again these last few days. Photograph by Peter Thorpe.  *This image is copyright of its original author So often amongst rangers, we try to discuss what it is that is going through the head of a male lion. Why do they do the things that they do and is it as well thought out or tactically minded as we’d like to believe? In this current situation, it seems that the Majingilane may have just been unable to help themselves… 
Interesting topic, exactly how smart are these animals if at all.
What exactly makes a coalition like the majingilane more successfull than others, are they in any way "smarter" than other coalitions are their actions taken with a porpuse or planning involved or are they just a manisfestation of their animal instincts ? Are their instincts better than the lions from other coalitions or it´s all just pure chance and a bunch of fortunate situations. We know the lifespan of a lion so we realize that they are old do they realize the same ?  (06-22-2017, 04:18 AM)Michael Wrote: Interesting topic, exactly how smart are these animals if at all. The majingilane are lucky, the never had a serous competition but they never get involved in fights with 2 or more lions, in those cases they run away laving their Prides and cubs behind. It has happened a few times. Now they are back in Londolozi in a routine trip since the matimbas left (after the fight with the matshapiri males) the area is with no male lions. The Birmingham boys are very passive, no interest to explore other areas. The Matshapiri now after the injury of one of them are not anymore a threat. The Avoca males are still young but with increasing presence. I doubt the Majingilane will stay to fight both of them. and there are some young lions who are still not able to takeover Prides. the situation is good because any big change will result in many dead cubs 
06-22-2017, 07:32 PM
( This post was last modified: 06-23-2017, 12:35 AM by Tshokwane
Edit Reason: Fixing the post
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We KNOW Why The Majingilane Returned
by James Tyrrell on June 22, 2017 0 It took me a long time to get over my jealousy at what other rangers were seeing. Being in the here and now is the only way to really enjoy the bush, and these days it is very rare that I suffer from FOMO. The last time was almost a year ago, when some of the vehicles here watched a lioness defend herself against an absolute onslaught of hyenas, and since then I have been more than content with whatever it is I happen to be filming or watching. I’d even go so far as to say that I’m happy for whoever is seeing something amazing, and am graciously able to accept that it’s just their day. Okay that last bit may be pushing it a little. My point is that it’s not often that my jaw literally drops at hearing what someone else is seeing. It’s even rarer that it drops and then drops further with a second update. Ranger Greg Pingo seems to be going through a purple patch. Having found a pangolin on each of his last three work cycles (a pangolin is like the holy grail of wildlife sightings; some people work in the bush for a decade without ever seeing one), other rangers are seeing him as some sort of good luck talisman, like a rabbit’s foot or horseshoe. I even tried to rub his belly recently, like one is meant to do to the statue of Buddha, in order to try and appropriate some of his good fortune for my own, but he seemed not to like this and I was forced to stop. His purple patch recently culminated in his latest and possibly greatest sighting, which, in light of Amy’s post from yesterday, is not without its sense of irony as far as the blog is concerned. The two Avoca male lions, new on the reserve and looking to set up shop with the Ntsevu females, were found in the deep south-east of Londolozi in company with one of the lionesses from that pride. Greg was there in the evening watching them interacting; a bit of mating, the occasional growl, a really interesting sighting. As the light faded and the lions looked like resting for a bit, Greg was preparing to leave them in peace when a rustle in the grass caught his and the lioness’ attention. The lioness got up and moved towards where something had clearly been moving in a the thicket, and then upon reaching the spot, lay down with what looked like her paw resting on some object. Confused, as there had been no distress cry from whatever she appeared to have caught, Greg drove over to her to see what had happened, and to his delight and surprise saw that she had grabbed hold of a pangolin. A pangolin is covered with very hard plates and is Africa’s version of an armadillo; when threatened it simply rolls itself into a ball, creating an almost impenetrable wall of armour which predators find it very hard to get through. The pangolin was tucked up and looking very much like a soccer ball, and Greg and his guests simply sat and marvelled at their luck at being able to see one of Africa’s rarest creatures, knowing full well that the lioness was very unlikely to be able to hurt it.  *This image is copyright of its original author The impregnable nature of a pangolin’s armour can be seen here. Meanwhile, a few kilometres away, tracker Bennet Mathonsi and ranger Warren Pearson were following tracks of three big male lions. Knowing full well the state and numbers of the coalitions of the area, they were fairly confident that these were tracks of the Majingilane, back once more on Londolozi soil. They hadn’t been found that morning, even though some distant roars had been heard around sunrise. Despite their occasional forays back into our central areas, nothing serious has materialised for awhile, and I don’t think anyone expected a proper clash when they were heard calling yesterday morning. Anticlimax has been the most of it in the last few months, as these three big males have been coming in one day and heading back out the next, almost every time. This evening was different. Warren and Bennet were on the tracks as the sun was setting, so knew their time was running out. They were at least four kilometres from where Greg and his pangolin were, so neither Warren, Bennet nor Greg suspected what was about to happen. The lioness that had the pangolin between her paws suddenly pricked up her ears. Listening as well, Greg and tracker Equalizer heard the soft contact calls of another lion from nearby. Suspecting it to be the second Avoca male, who had been left about 100 metres away, they didn’t think too much of it when the lioness suddenly leapt up an dashed off past them. Then one of the Avoca males came fleeing after her. Then the other Avoca male came hurtling by. Thoroughly confused by now, Greg and Equalizer had no idea what was happening until out of the darkness came the bellowing roars of two more male lions, rushing in out of the twilight. It was two of the Majingilane, who had clearly been on silent approach that evening, not wanting to advertise their presence until it was almost too late for the Avoca males. In the darkness and using the spotlight, Greg and Equalizer only got brief glimpses of the lions as the Majingilane chased the much younger and smaller Avoca pair back and forth amongst the acacia thickets, eventually forcing them all the way down into the Sand River and across our eastern boundary.  *This image is copyright of its original author The Dark Maned Majingilane is often at the forefront of any encounter.  *This image is copyright of its original author These days more than ever, the three Majingilane need to stay together in a united front. Hearing Greg’s update on the radio: “Uh… Warren, this update concerns you; the lions you are tracking are now chasing the Avoca males”, coming on the heels of his pangolin update, was what took my jaw to the floor. Not much can top the finding of a pangolin, but I’m pretty sure that did.  *This image is copyright of its original author Striding out. Upon returning from game drive this morning (during which we heard the roars of the Majingilane to the west of Londolozi, having come in, chased the Avoca coalition and then retreated in the space of 24 hours, covering roughly 30km!), Greg officially handed in his notice, having accepted that that sighting will probably be unmatchable for the rest of his guiding career. Okay the bit about him resigning may not be true, but I’m pretty confident he’s peaked in terms of exciting sightings. Coming on the heels of Amy’s post from yesterday, this development is even more exciting; the Majingilane are far from done! I would have to go with the theory put forward in Amy’s third paragraph; it seems likely that the Majingilane are attempting to maintain some kind of buffer between their current established territory and any potential threat. The wider they can maintain that buffer, the more time they buy themselves as they fade into old age. The knock-on effect is that they buy the cubs of the Mhangeni Pride that much more time as well… (06-22-2017, 03:48 PM)LionKiss Wrote:(06-22-2017, 04:18 AM)Michael Wrote: Interesting topic, exactly how smart are these animals if at all. I wouldn´t say the Birmingham boys are passive they already control a massive territory with three prides with small cubs within it plus they are only around 6 years old and one of them is 7 (06-22-2017, 03:48 PM)LionKiss Wrote: The majingilane are lucky, the never had a serous competition but they never get involved in fights with 2 or more lions, in those cases they run away laving their Prides and cubs behind. No, it hasn't. You keep repeating this crap every time, and each times it's disproved by their actions. Each and every set of cubs they have fathered has made it, so far, to adulthood. Not many other coaliitions can claim something like that, certainly not in the Sabi sands. (06-22-2017, 04:18 AM)Michael Wrote: We know the lifespan of a lion so we realize that they are old do they realize the same ? I would say so, yes. They already realized their limitations in mid 2014, when they took the west from the Selati males, and so they just left part of their territory(londolozi and mala mala) because they couldn't patrol all of it in an effective way. Now, with these displays of dominance, I think they are making sure the borders of their land are secure and that no one else gets any ideas of attacking them.  (06-22-2017, 03:48 PM)LionKiss Wrote:(06-22-2017, 04:18 AM)Michael Wrote: Interesting topic, exactly how smart are these animals if at all. god damn man, you got offend two lions coalitions in only one time! and its not true that the majingilanes can not faced 2 lions! read that last londolozi article and you could see that the majingilanes want to fight against the 2 avocas. the majingilanes have no fault if the avocas not wanted this fight and run away from them! this kind of thing happened many times along the majingilanes life! some months ago only two majingilanes chased 3 or 4 bboys from a kill at elephant plains! and the bboys are satisfied and busy with the styx, torchwoods and nkuhumas and they took over the matimbas land with only 3 years old. they are doing well althoug they did not kill any male lion yet.
"It was two of the Majingilane, who had clearly been on silent approach that evening, not wanting to advertise their presence until it was almost too late for the Avoca males. " ( james Tyrell)
that is the method used by the majingilane males to defeat and kill their rivals. they probably used it against mapogos in elephant plains many years ago and still using it. this show us that they still wanting to reign and destroy their opponents althoug they are old kings! (06-23-2017, 11:04 AM)LionKiss Wrote: the cubs are brought up by their mothers, the cubs will grow up nicely even without the dominant males, see what is happening with the Tsalala pride, or the old Tsalala Breakaway pride, the old tailless lioness took away 4 female cubs and brought them up with out the Mapogos. Exceptions, not the rule. (06-23-2017, 11:04 AM)LionKiss Wrote: But my comment was not about the prides it was about whether the majingilane will stay to fight no matter if they protect their pride, their territory or their Presence in a territory. Which they have been doing for 7 years. (06-23-2017, 11:04 AM)LionKiss Wrote: and to this respect the Majingilane have always moved away from 2 big adult Lions. Another lie. So, when they chased around the Matimbas, the Matshapiris, the 3 Birminghams (fun note, 3 is more than 2) what was that? Then later you complain when I delete what is nothing more than misinformation, but you don't stop it. I will not repeat myself needlessly. But you won't get to mislead people just because of your prejudice and obvious jealousy at a group of lions. (06-23-2017, 08:07 PM)LionKiss Wrote: you should delete posts with vulgar or aggressive or antisocial language and not posts with opinions which do not coincide with yours.\ I will be the one to decide what to delete or not in order to maintain the thread clean and clear, not you. What gets some of yours deleted isn't disagreement. It's the constant repetition of blatant misinformation, something that repeated enough times can mislead people, the new ones that want to learn. You have been proven wrong in all the points you raised and yet you keep repeating the crap blindly, and so the deletes come. (06-23-2017, 08:07 PM)LionKiss Wrote: Cubs are brought up by their mothers, this is what all wild life experts, scientists accept. See the Nkuhuma Pride what do the big males provide them? food? of course not the females can hunt and there are cases that the Males take the kill from the Prides. They provide something much more important than just food. The males provide a safe home, a safe territory where to raise those cubs to adulthood. Without it, when even a lone male approachs that pride, all the cubs are in danger and in fact this is how most get killed. |
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