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MALAMALA TODAY (Weekend Roundup): February 2nd-4th. It’s been an eventful weekend for the Kambula pride with both bitter and sweet news. At least one of the cubs of the lioness who was denning in the Rock Drift Donga was found dead. There was no immediate sign of the lioness and the other 2 cubs so we are unsure of their fate. This morning 4 of the lionesses were at Confluence Crossing and they slowly moved north towards West Street Bridge. One lioness veered off towards a thicket from which the sound of cubs could be heard. A herd a buffalo ventured into the area at midday and this afternoon we found 5 of the lionesses with a buffalo kill- 2 very small cubs were also present so the area was closed off. A single Gowrie male was seen near Campbell Koppies and the Matshapiri male was at Princess Alice’s Pans.
MALAMALA TODAY: February 5th&6th. 13 lions: The Kambula pride continue to do things that leave us scratching our heads... Yesterday all 6 lionesses and a single Gowrie male were found with their 2nd buffalo kill in as many days. 4 cubs from 2 different litters were also present and playfully interacted before something shocking occurred... Without warning, the mother of the slightly younger cubs killed both of the older cubs. A number of theories have been generated as to why but we’ll never really know. 4 of the lionesses were in the Sand River at West Street Bridge today while the lioness with 2 cubs and the Gowrie male were at Maxim’s Lookout. We viewed the 2 Avoca males on both days. They killed a giraffe in southwestern Charleston.
Photo of one of the younger cubs of the Kambula pride by ranger Liam Henderson
02-07-2018, 08:56 AM( This post was last modified: 02-08-2018, 03:25 AM by Michael )
(02-07-2018, 02:14 AM)vinodkumarn Wrote: MALAMALA TODAY: February 5th&6th. 13 lions: The Kambula pride continue to do things that leave us scratching our heads... Yesterday all 6 lionesses and a single Gowrie male were found with their 2nd buffalo kill in as many days. 4 cubs from 2 different litters were also present and playfully interacted before something shocking occurred... Without warning, the mother of the slightly younger cubs killed both of the older cubs. A number of theories have been generated as to why but we’ll never really know. 4 of the lionesses were in the Sand River at West Street Bridge today while the lioness with 2 cubs and the Gowrie male were at Maxim’s Lookout. We viewed the 2 Avoca males on both days. They killed a giraffe in southwestern Charleston.
Photo of one of the younger cubs of the Kambula pride by ranger Liam Henderson
*This image is copyright of its original author
Very interesting behavior specially coming from a female, how likelly is it that she realised the cubs of the other lioness were from a different male than hers and she decided to kill them ?
Or maybe it simple was because it was the first time that particular lioness interacted with those cubs, interesting nonetheless
Very interesting behavior from the Kambula lioness. The pride's rotten luck with cubs continues. What was the reaction of the mother of the cubs that were killed though? And which Birmingham male has been hanging around with the Kambulas lately? He seems to have been separated from his brothers for a long time.
A lioness from the Kambula Pride carries one of her three cubs across the Sand River. credits to Jacques Olivier Proust @jacquesproust, ranger at Mala Mala Game Reserve, posted 02/06/2018
MALAMALA TODAY: February 7th. Lions: Making headlines, again... the Kambula pride! 4 of the lionesses were found south of Maxim’s Lookout this morning and they had a Gowrie male for company. We followed them as they entered the Sand River and then moved north. One of the lionesses made her way into a thicket where we got a glimpse at 4 small cubs! We’ll post that video tomorrow. The 2 Avoca males are still feeding on their giraffe kill is southwestern Charleston.
How many Litters.. 2 litters of 3 each and a litter of 4. (May be another litter of 2 or the three litter reduced to 2!)
(02-07-2018, 02:14 AM)vinodkumarn Wrote: MALAMALA TODAY: February 5th&6th. 13 lions: The Kambula pride continue to do things that leave us scratching our heads... Yesterday all 6 lionesses and a single Gowrie male were found with their 2nd buffalo kill in as many days. 4 cubs from 2 different litters were also present and playfully interacted before something shocking occurred... Without warning, the mother of the slightly younger cubs killed both of the older cubs. A number of theories have been generated as to why but we’ll never really know. 4 of the lionesses were in the Sand River at West Street Bridge today while the lioness with 2 cubs and the Gowrie male were at Maxim’s Lookout. We viewed the 2 Avoca males on both days. They killed a giraffe in southwestern Charleston.
Photo of one of the younger cubs of the Kambula pride by ranger Liam Henderson
*This image is copyright of its original author
Very interesting behavior specially coming from a female, how likelly is it that see realised the cubs of the other lioness were from a different male than hers and she decided to kill them ?
Or maybe it simple was because it was the first time that particular lioness interacted with those cubs, interesting nonetheless
The cubs being from a different male isn't a problem, maybe the pride is splitting up since so many coalitions currently frequent their territory and she saw the older cubs as being from a rival pride. It could also be what you said at the end.
(02-07-2018, 09:59 AM)sundarbans Wrote: Very interesting behavior from the Kambula lioness. The pride's rotten luck with cubs continues. What was the reaction of the mother of the cubs that were killed though? And which Birmingham male has been hanging around with the Kambulas lately? He seems to have been separated from his brothers for a long time.
The Birmingham that has been with the Kambulas is Mfumo he hasn't been seen in the Northern parts of Sabi Sands in ages