Modern Weights and Measurements of Wild Lions

[LandSeaLion]

(08-18-2021, 05:29 PM)TheLioness Wrote:

(08-16-2021, 01:16 PM)LandSeaLion Wrote: Astonishingly big cats! 

I can’t find any images of Blaze, but here are some photos of Kalamas taken when he mysteriously lost his mane a few years ago (it regrew back within a few months):

*This image is copyright of its original author

 

*This image is copyright of its original author

https://www.lionrecoveryfund.org/stories/the-lion-who-lost-his-mane/

What a huge male! Glad to see some very large males recently. Great for genetics to successfully protect the pride, as long as he isnt facing multiple males.

After Blaze's death, Kalamas was a nomad who roamed a huge region encompassing the Ngorongoro crater, the Serengeti and surrounds. He hasn't been sighted since early 2019, so it's uncertain if he's still alive. That said, he did mate with lionesses from several prides. His tactic was to hang out on the fringes of pride territories waiting for such opportunities:

Quote:For the next few weeks we monitored his movements and he seemed to lay low, recovering, but you can’t keep a good lion down. Far from learning his lesson about encroaching on other male’s territories he has since been seen in the presence of other females from the Crater rim. His modus operandi seems to be to hang around on the periphery and entice the ladies away for a few days at a time. They just don’t seem to be able to get enough of him. Something about that Jon Snowesque mane of dark shaggy dark hair.

It is an interesting tactic. We ponder whether perhaps mating with pride females belonging to other males in this sneaky way may mean that when (and if) they give birth the resident male is duped into believing that Kalamas’s offspring are their own. It is certainly a great way for Kalamas to get as many females as possible but not have the burden of looking after any of the offspring.

It is certainly an unusual story and far from the norm. It remains to be seen if Kalamas was at all successful or if the resident males were harder to fool than he imagined. We are looking out for cubs with dark manes though.

https://blog.snapshotserengeti.org/2019/...lone-lion/

He apparently now has a few known offspring that have reached sub-adulthood - 3 males in the Maswa game reserve and at least 1 male in Mwiba. They are growing up to be very large and healthy lions. Reply