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Lions of Sabi Sands - Printable Version

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RE: Lions of sabi sands - Tshokwane - 05-11-2018

(05-11-2018, 01:50 PM)sundarbans Wrote: Are there 3 adult Othawa females?

No, there are only 2 adult ones, as Sik says. 

The third one, the mother of the subadults, was killed by hyenas a couple of years ago.

RE: Lions of sabi sands - vinodkumarn - 05-11-2018

(05-11-2018, 04:59 PM)Tshokwane Wrote:
(05-11-2018, 01:50 PM)sundarbans Wrote: Are there 3 adult Othawa females?

No, there are only 2 adult ones, as Sik says. 

The third one, the mother of the subadults, was killed by hyenas a couple of years ago.

Now the sub-adult females is almost 3.5 year old.
I hope she and her aunt will produce more cubs and I hope the pride's legacy is continued.

looks like other female cannot have cubs

RE: Lions of sabi sands - vinodkumarn - 05-11-2018

Three new lion cubs with the Ottawa pride at Inyati Game Lodge


*This image is copyright of its original author



*This image is copyright of its original author


RE: Lions of sabi sands - wingzer0o - 05-12-2018

(04-20-2018, 06:33 PM)Tshokwane Wrote: There was also this comment by James Souchon in this week's Week in Pictures from Londolozi.

http://blog.londolozi.com/2018/04/20/the-week-in-pictures-331/

Lion dynamics continue to enthral us, and as we bid farewell to the Scar-nosed Majingilane male and reflect on the incredible reign that this coalition had, we can’t help but wonder what is in store for the Birmingham Males and what their future holds compared to the dominance that came before them.

A few days back also saw the return of the three Tsalala Males who were seen in the company of some of the Mhangeni sub-adults AND a Birmingham male, who were all feeding on a impala that had been stolen from a male cheetah. When questioned as to what had happened during that sighting, Don Heyneke’s only remark was, “I have no idea what just went down!”

(05-11-2018, 10:38 PM)vinodkumarn Wrote: Three new lion cubs with the Ottawa pride at Inyati Game Lodge


*This image is copyright of its original author



*This image is copyright of its original author

These are the latest & last Majingilane offsprings, correct?

RE: Lions of sabi sands - Tshokwane - 05-12-2018

(05-12-2018, 01:08 AM)wingzer0o Wrote: These are the latest & last Majingilane offsprings, correct?

Yes, they are.

RE: Lions of sabi sands - Tshokwane - 05-12-2018

Credits to Nigel Ridge - Leopard Hills.

One more of one of the Othawa kitty.

*This image is copyright of its original author


RE: Lions of sabi sands - Tshokwane - 05-15-2018

Credits to Pieter van Wyk - MalaMala.

MALAMALA TODAY: May 14th. Battered and bruised. Cut up and in need of meal. That’s pretty much par for the course if you’re a young male lion in the nomadic phase of life. These 3 young males have been independent from their pride for quite some time now but today they were reunited with their sister and tailless aunt. 

We viewed all 5 lions together this morning in the heart of the area that their pride was named after; Marthly. In fact, all our sightings took place this morning as the afternoon brought with it an unyielding downpour rain- possibly the seasons last significant downpour. 

*This image is copyright of its original author


RE: Lions of sabi sands - Tshokwane - 05-15-2018

Credits to Matt Smith - Kirkman's Kamp.

The Avoca Males are becoming more impressive by the day. They are young and coming into their prime, and we saw them a few days ago, firmly establishing themselves as the dominant males in the area. 

*This image is copyright of its original author


RE: Lions of sabi sands - Tshokwane - 05-15-2018

Credits to Gerrit Ackerman - Elephant Plains.

The Mhangene sub adults taking over a kill from the Nkuhuma pride:

I have now been a guide for almost 5 years and this was by far my best lion sighting ever. My guests and I was doing a bit of star gazing when one of my guests said “I see a lion over there!” and ever so relaxed one of the Nkuhuma female lions merged from the bush then another two came out as well, I quickly grabbed the radio and called my other two colleges who I knew was close by. We then followed them for a short distance before they stopped right in their tracks, I then knew that they were on the hunt, they were sniffing the air smelling for a potential meal. While sitting in absolute silence we suddenly heard the clash of horns echoing through the darkness in front of us. the three lionesses took off like a bat out of hell following the sound. We knew from experience that it was two male impalas battling it out for mating rights as this is rutting season. We followed these three ladies down the road when the rest of the group came running in behind them. The whole pride was moving as one towards the fighting impalas. 

The lions suddenly stopped and stared into the darkness whilst listening to pin point the direction of the sound.  All of a sudden, we could hear Impalas scattering into all directions trying to escape the claws of the hungry lions. As we switched our spot light on we saw two lionesses latching onto the one impala ram. A few of the other lionesses tried to get the second ram but was just too late. It was only a matter of seconds and the whole pride was on the impala male. While watching the Nkuhuma pride feasting away on their well-deserved kill we heard movement behind us. Out of the darkness the hungry and fearless 9 Mhangene sub adult lions merged and ran straight towards the Nkuhuma pride. These youngsters had nothing to lose and everything to gain so this made them a formidable force to be recon with. 

The 5 adult lionesses of the Nkuhuma pride quickly countered the charging Mhangene youngsters. Sundenly the sub adults of the Nkuhuma pride joined their mothers in the fight. This was chaos! We had lions to the front and the back of the vehicle Fighting to claim the last bits of this impala ram. The sound that we heard was immense at one stage I had Goosebumps. This was by far my best kill that I got to witness.

RE: Lions of sabi sands - jordi6927 - 05-15-2018

(05-15-2018, 02:15 AM)Tshokwane Wrote: Credits to Gerrit Ackerman - Elephant Plains.

The Mhangene sub adults taking over a kill from the Nkuhuma pride:

I have now been a guide for almost 5 years and this was by far my best lion sighting ever. My guests and I was doing a bit of star gazing when one of my guests said “I see a lion over there!” and ever so relaxed one of the Nkuhuma female lions merged from the bush then another two came out as well, I quickly grabbed the radio and called my other two colleges who I knew was close by. We then followed them for a short distance before they stopped right in their tracks, I then knew that they were on the hunt, they were sniffing the air smelling for a potential meal. While sitting in absolute silence we suddenly heard the clash of horns echoing through the darkness in front of us. the three lionesses took off like a bat out of hell following the sound. We knew from experience that it was two male impalas battling it out for mating rights as this is rutting season. We followed these three ladies down the road when the rest of the group came running in behind them. The whole pride was moving as one towards the fighting impalas. 

The lions suddenly stopped and stared into the darkness whilst listening to pin point the direction of the sound.  All of a sudden, we could hear Impalas scattering into all directions trying to escape the claws of the hungry lions. As we switched our spot light on we saw two lionesses latching onto the one impala ram. A few of the other lionesses tried to get the second ram but was just too late. It was only a matter of seconds and the whole pride was on the impala male. While watching the Nkuhuma pride feasting away on their well-deserved kill we heard movement behind us. Out of the darkness the hungry and fearless 9 Mhangene sub adult lions merged and ran straight towards the Nkuhuma pride. These youngsters had nothing to lose and everything to gain so this made them a formidable force to be recon with. 

The 5 adult lionesses of the Nkuhuma pride quickly countered the charging Mhangene youngsters. Sundenly the sub adults of the Nkuhuma pride joined their mothers in the fight. This was chaos! We had lions to the front and the back of the vehicle Fighting to claim the last bits of this impala ram. The sound that we heard was immense at one stage I had Goosebumps. This was by far my best kill that I got to witness.

anyone else think the elephant plains area is a bad spot for the Mhangeni?

RE: Lions of sabi sands - Chris - 05-16-2018

(05-15-2018, 01:22 AM)Ok Tshokwane Wrote: Credits to Pieter van Wyk - MalaMala.

MALAMALA TODAY: May 14th. Battered and bruised. Cut up and in need of meal. That’s pretty much par for the course if you’re a young male lion in the nomadic phase of life. These 3 young males have been independent from their pride for quite some time now but today they were reunited with their sister and tailless aunt. 

We viewed all 5 lions together this morning in the heart of the area that their pride was named after; Marthly. In fact, all our sightings took place this morning as the afternoon brought with it an unyielding downpour rain- possibly the seasons last significant downpour. 

*This image is copyright of its original author
Did they fight against the Birmingham boys because they are beat up just like the b boys.

RE: Lions of sabi sands - Tshokwane - 05-16-2018

Credits to James Tyrrell - Londolozi.

Tsalala Males Reunite with Tailless Female:

Anthropomorphism is something I tend to disagree with. The attributing of human characteristics to an animal just doesn’t fit in my mind, as who are we to say that a lion is confident, simply because he is walking down a road, or a leopard is proud, because he happens to look fairly regal?


Anyway, that’s a discussion for another day.

What I don’t mind is making a comparison. Saying that one thing reminds you of something else is absolutely fine, because it doesn’t define the first thing. Make sense?

I’m saying all this to tee up the fact that the young Tsalala males look just like they’re varsity students who are having a tough time in the big bad world, and have come home for a little R & R.

The three young males follow the Tailless female near the Manyelethi River. They were sniffing around fairly constantly, as this is the area in which the emaciated Tsalala cub was seen only a day or two before, and his scent was almost certainly still lingering.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The males as cubs, circa Jan. 2014. I can’t say for sure which of these four are them and which is their sister (who is still alive and usually to be found with the Tailless female), but it’s amazing to see how much they’ve grown in the picture above.

*This image is copyright of its original author

They were seen a couple of days ago on Mala Mala with their aunt, the Tailless lioness, and then were found this morning by ranger Shaun D’Araujo and tracker Elmon Mhlongo in northern Londolozi. The Tailless female was vocalizing consistently, we are sure for the young lioness who was absent from the pride, but also possibly for her male cub, who was seen in very poor condition yesterday, and sadly didn’t look like it’s going to make it.


The three young males are, thankfully, still together and all in one piece, although it certainly looks like they’ve had a couple of run-ins with other lions. Bite marks on the flanks and spine of one of them in particular are very indicative of the type of damage that would be sustained in a fight with another lion, although hyenas can’t be ruled out as the culprits.

Bite marks are clearly visible on this male, who seemed to be in slightly worse condition than the other two.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The males are just over 4 years old now (they were born in late 2013 to the recently deceased Tailed female) so are almost certainly still too young to challenge for territory. Having said that, the Avoca males were causing all sorts of trouble for the Mathispiri males at this time last year, and they were about the same age then as the Tsalala males are now, if not slightly younger. Granted the Mathsipiri males were only a coalition of two, and one of them was injured. The Tsalala males, should they wish to remain in the area, would be forced to challenge the four-strong, in-their-prime Birmingham males, the outcome of which I can almost guarantee would not go the Tsalala’s way.

Although their size is nicely illustrated here next to Shaun D’Araujo’s Land Rover, the Tsalala males still have a way to go before they reach full size. Their skinny frames tell of some hard times.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The Matimba males have moved into the west, and three new males from the Avoca pride have apparently moved into the northern reaches of the Sabi Sand Reserve. At the moment then, the prospects for the Tsalala males aren’t all that great. Which may well explain why they have sought temporary refuge in northern Londolozi, an area currently unoccupied by a dominant coalition, and where their aunt would be accepting of their presence.


Chances are they won’t be around for long, but these offspring of the Majingilane, should they survive another year, at least have the numbers on their side to vie for prime territory. It may well not be on Londolozi, but as long as it’s somewhere, I imagine that’s good enough for them.

RE: Lions of sabi sands - vinodkumarn - 05-18-2018

MALAMALA TODAY: May 17th. Leopard cubs, Cape hunting dogs and 2 near death experiences. If cats do have 9 lives then the Senegal Bush male leopard used up one of his this evening... He was initially seen in front of Sable Camp early this morning but things got interesting during the afternoon drive when we found him feeding on a nyala bull kill in the lower reaches of the Manyeleti River. By nightfall he’d been joined by a hyena and it wasn’t long before they both got some uninvited company. 4 lionesses from the Kambula pride had gotten wind of the kill and came jogging in from the east. The Senegal Bush male noticed them making their approach but he didn’t seem as panic-stricken as he perhaps should’ve. One of the lionesses latched onto the hyena whilst the leopard made a half-hearted getaway up the banks of the river. Bizarrely he then stopped, turned around and tried to sneak back towards the kill. A second lioness set her sights on him and gave chase! He scampered up a tree but didn’t get high enough before the lioness grabbed him and pulled him to the ground. A ferocious scuffle ensued as the lioness tore into him. We feared the worst. But, somehow the Senegal Bush male managed to escape and scampered up another tree to safety. The hyena miraculously got away as well but both will be licking some nasty wounds for a while. A Gowrie male then appeared on the scene and the lions devoured what remained of the kill. A 5th Kambula lioness was seen near our airstrip. 

RE: Lions of sabi sands - Agerceno - 05-18-2018

The screenshots are not the best quality because the lioness was moving, but it looks like one of the Nkuhuma Lionesses could be pregnant. Does anyone agree/disagree?


*This image is copyright of its original author


*This image is copyright of its original author


*This image is copyright of its original author


RE: Lions of sabi sands - T Rabbit - 05-18-2018

I think the tsalala sub adult was sighted in a very poor condition at djuma.
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