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Lions of Timbavati
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From Tintswalo Safari Lodge
Safari update This morning, (scorro) one of the Thanda Impi male lions and 5 mbiri lionesses were found at vulture pan. By Scorro taking over the mating duties, Sisanani was given the day off and was nowhere to be found.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Nik Barratt Wildlife Photography:
Ngala Tented Camp. Two males resting after a scrap the previous evening. You can usually tell who won a fight as the lion that runs away tends to be bashed up around the hind quarters. The dark haired male here took quite a beating, cuts all over his back and a nasty wound to the face. Two of the Avoca males. I wonder who gave them a beating.  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Nthambo Tree Camp, Mapoza Lions Take Buffalo Kill from Lionesses… Again
"This is starting to look like a trend in the world of the Mapoza lions: Once again we have found them stealing a hard-earned meal from the Ross Breakaway lionesses! This isn’t news in terms of lion behaviour – lions are notorious scavengers and opportunistic feeders, meaning that they will rarely miss out on a good meal when it’s going, especially when they don’t need to do the hard work themselves! The Mapozas are a force to be reckoned with, and both are growing more and more confident in their new territory."  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author "Last week, we found the older male mating with one of the Ross Breakaway lionesses (not the first time), and now we’ve discovered them feeding on a buffalo calf that was killed by the females!"  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author "Africa on Foot guide, Greg, found one of the Breakaway lionesses trailing a buffalo herd on afternoon game drive, and he followed her for a long while, giving guests the opportunity to witness the process involved with a lion hunt. Patience and stealth! Soon it was time to return to the lodge for dinner, so they left the lioness to her work for the evening, and returned first thing in the morning ready to see what the result of the hunt could be. Greg found the tracks of the buffaloes close to camp and decided to backtrack the herd to see what may remain in its path… Sure enough, there were the Mapoza males, sniffing around and on the scent of something interesting!"  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author "Greg trailed the two, now famous, male lions until they got to nThambo Tree Camp access road, and that’s when the drama went down! One of the Ross Breakaway lionesses had clearly succeeded in killing a buffalo calf and the Mapozas had traced the evidence right up to the scene of the crime, and didn’t hesitate in chasing the lioness off her meal."  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author "The Mapozas fed on the carcass for a bit while the lionesses hung around on the perimeter. The younger lioness has always kept her distance from the males, and doesn’t seem to have taken a liking to them, so she remained on the outskirts for the entirety of the sighting. The males soon moved off and left the remains of the buffalo for the lionesses, and by midday – as nature would have it – the whole carcass had been cleaned up by vultures! Some more fantastic predator action for guests at nThambo Tree Camp and Africa on Foot in the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve."  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Motswari Private Game Reserve
Its not every day that one scene contains three of Africa's top predators - a dead hippo resulted in a young male leopard, an old male lion and a clan of 16 hyenas all being drawn to the same area! Quite a special sight to see - please keep checking back for the video of this sighting!  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
From Tintswalo Safari Lodge
Safari update A two day update The afternoon of the 23rd was very productive. The Skorro Thanda Impi male and the Mbiri pride were relocated on Vulture pan. The Nharhu pride was found on Helens road. The Rhulani male Leopard was found with an Impala kill on Khoka moya cutline. Yesterday morning, the Mbiri pride was found early, on Sable east. This time in the company of the Sizanani Thanda Impi male Lion. Some mating was also happening with one of the young Lionesses. The Rhulani male Leopard was still on Khoka Moya cutline with his Impala kill. The Nharhu pride was found with a Zebra kill on Leadwood link. The Skorro Thanda Impi male Lion was helping himself the their hard earned prize. A very cheeky Black-backed jackal was sniping around helping itself to some scraps. Yesterday afternoon we decided to head south and look for Elephants. Elephant herds have been surprisingly scarce in the north for the last few days. We came away with several herds. This morning, the Sizanani Thanda Impi male Lions was with the Nharhu pride. The constant swopping, between the males is a bit confusing. The rest of the morning produced some great general game sightings. Skorro  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Rhulani Leopard  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Sizanani  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author queSkorro  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to NThambo Tree Camp.
The older Mapoza male has gained confidence since the pair first arrived in the area a few months ago and he is certainly acting like a newly crowned king!  *This image is copyright of its original author On Tuesday's evening game drive the Ross Breakaways were spotted stalking a herd of buffalo after their kill from the previous day had been devoured by the Mapozas! Yesterday morning we showed up and saw this incredible sight. A bigger meal and enough to fill the two lionesses and male lions.  *This image is copyright of its original author The younger of the two lionesses was seen at the carcass, tucking in in true carnivore fashion. This female seems to behave very warily around the Mapoza boys and prefers to keep her distance. When we found her, she was alone at the carcass, and then we found the other lioness and Mapozas a short distance away.  *This image is copyright of its original author This is the younger Mapoza male, and now that we are getting a better look at him, we've noticed that he is likely blind in his right eye. This lion used to take cover as soon as we arrived on the scene, but lately we have seen him gain confidence. At night, only his left eye reflects if it catches the light, and in daylight we can see the right eye looks damaged.  *This image is copyright of its original author The one lioness we saw feeding also seemed to have an unusual appearance. As Kevin filmed and photographed her, we noticed he left side of her jaw/mouth was slightly out of place. Maybe she only had something stuck in her teeth, or maybe she injured herself - we can only speculate.  *This image is copyright of its original author The well fed and content looking Mapoza male. He is one heavy duty male lion and a real looker at that!  *This image is copyright of its original author Resting in the shade after a good helping of fresh buffalo!  *This image is copyright of its original author
who controls now the Northern Matimba Prides?
do the Selatis still control the Talamati Pride? Are they doing ok with so many young cubs? 
who are blondie and warlord and why do the avoca males hang out with the giraffe males
(08-29-2016, 10:01 AM)jacksonsmash Wrote: who are blondie and warlord and I'm not sure which lions you're referring to. Of which post are you talking about? Quote:why do the avoca males hang out with the giraffe males The two sets of males are related to each other, considering that the Avoca pride is a breakaway of the Giraffe pride. Both coalitions were fathered by the Old Ross males, so these males are half brothers. (The last Old Ross male is the one in post #152 here)
From Umlani Bushcamp
We had a nice sighting of one of the Sumatra male lions yesterday as he rested with the fullest belly I have ever seen on a lion. Its been a while since we have seen this male and he is looking magnificent.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Africa on Foot: Pics by Michael Beard.
Rare photos of the two Mapoza male lions together, instead of the younger one keeping a low profile in the bush and letting his blonde, handsome, coalition partner shine in the spotlight! Fantastic sighting of these boys and one Ross Breakaway lioness recently for our guests. The two Mapoza male lions who strutted onto the property a few months ago have increased their their confidence tenfold. The pair came, saw, and appear to have conquered, this part of the Klaserie. We questioned whether these males could would be a match for the Trilogy, but it seems the Trilogy males were the ones to lay low when the new boys rocked up. Just goes to show that we know precious little about lion dynamics and should never assume to know how things are going to play out!  *This image is copyright of its original author The Mapozas (meaning ‘to chase’) were very shy and behaved aggressively towards vehicles in their early days.  *This image is copyright of its original author One of the males – the older one – was more confident than the younger one, and we have seen a little more of him in the past, while the younger male would retreat to the bush as soon as a vehicle would arrive at a sighting.  *This image is copyright of its original author Now, the lions seem to have become habituated to the vehicles, and for the first time ever we have managed to photograph both males relaxing in the sunlight with one of the Ross Breakaway lionesses.  *This image is copyright of its original author The Mapozas have certainly made their mark at Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp where they have feasted on many a buffalo, and been heard calling all around camp at night.  *This image is copyright of its original author Last week, they fed on nThambo’s access road, and since then they were spotted in another area close by, which is where we were delighted to find both males.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
There seems to be a lot of activity in this area, is there a map showing where the Mapozas, Mohabelitsi, Trilogy and Ross coalitions are. As an outsider, I have no idea where the lodges and dams are.
(08-31-2016, 05:38 PM)NCAT33 Wrote: There seems to be a lot of activity in this area, is there a map showing where the Mapozas, Mohabelitsi, Trilogy and Ross coalitions are. As an outsider, I have no idea where the lodges and dams are. I can't say exactly where each of the coalitions are, because I also only know about them from reading and not visiting there, but I did found a map of all the Timbavati and adjacent areas that can help to have an idea of where they are, at least by taking into account which of the Lodges post about each coalition. You can see also that the Sabi sands reserve is just to the south of the territory we consider in this thread, so that helps one to understand how relatively close these lions are to each other.  *This image is copyright of its original author
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