The Mighty Mapogos

[BA0701]

(04-18-2024, 10:39 PM)Mapokser Wrote: @BA0701 The guy who talked to Botha just phrased it as "he didn't reply when I asked if he knew what happened to Rasta".

My guess would just be that he had the same understanding of everybody at the time "Rasta vanished, nobody saw anything, but the Mapogo were clashing with the new coalition around that time and Rasta's twin also disappeared before showing up again at the border of the 2 coalitions, badly injured by multiple males, so Rasta was likely killed", all the guides had this understanding until the topic became taboo due to the Mapogo fanatics blaming the rangers ( think about the Nhenha situation plus 100 ).

We have a few sightings of the 5 Mapogo after that night in Elephant Plains, including a video of all 5 taken by a very well-knowm photographer ( Dave Pusey ), so whatever happened there the Mapogo might not even have been involved.

In 2015 talked about Dreadlocks, which is what everybody already knows, the Chiefs of 3 tribes demanded his head and threatened the rangers who wanted to dart Dreadlocks.

As for having a "new Mapogos" I agree, what happened back then must have been very hard for people to follow. I could barely withstand Nhenha/NK and the PCM doing all that killing back in 2022.

This WE report from early 2008 gives more info outside the Wrsterm Sector regarding lions deaths ( and in the Western Sector only, over 60 lions, IIRC 62-63 were reduced to 10 ):

https://wildearth.tv/2008/05/the-mapogo-story/

WE mentions Londolozi saying the Ximunvanyane pride of 10 members were all killed by Mapogo, Botha said he once saw the Mapogos killing an entire pride where they went to kill the cubs and the lionesses tried to defend them, it must have been this pride.

WE also says that Elephant Plains got a report from SS saying Mapogos killed 40% of the lion population, approximately 50 lions. And WE says the numbers certainly have risen since Londolozi reported all these deaths to them.

And this was on early 2008 before the Mapogo did the most damage on the Nkuhuma super pride, and on the Styx and Sparta prides. And also before they finished killing some of the other lions they ended up killing from 2008 to 2010.

It's not surprising that it was a WE ranger who said everybody was pissed over the killings and some wanted to move some of the Mapogo to other areas or even shoot some of them.

I know some rangers who liked them though, like the Nkorho dude who cried for KT, I think because he must have arrived at a time most of the killing have been done already and there were no "resident" pride on Nkorho for him to see killed. The 2 eastern Mapogo were the lions he saw the most.

A know Khimbini from Inyati also liked them a lot and the saw the destruction of the prides in the West, he was blatantly cheering for the Mapogo against the Selatis and was deeply saddened by Mr.T's death. But well Khimbini saw them for 6 years and he seemed to like the fact Mapogos were very aggressive and he would usually call them great warriors and the such.

Some others in the West like Rob I feel ( just my personal impression ) had a mix of admiration and "hatred", they admired these brutal lions they followed for 6 years but also hated that they had 3 different dominant males and 3 big prides to follow in 2006 before watching Mapogos killing almost all of them but failing at raising many cubs. Rob even said that the defeat of the Mapogo to the Selati was the best thing that could have happen to the lion population because Mapogo killed most lions barely raised any, and one of the problems, according to Rob, was that Mapogos were too obsessed with domination among themselves that they'd kill each others cubs, and the biggest culprit was Mr.T who had been killed by Selatis... I don't doubt that the reason the elder Kambula females have killed Kambula cubs in a few instances is because they inherited this behaviour from their grandfathers.

As for Botha, what I can say is that he has said he has had both amazing and sad moments with the Mapogo so maybe he also had a complex "relationship" with these lions.

@Mapokser , my friend, thank you so much for taking the time to write this great response up. It is very helpful. Yes, 2022 was a difficult year, we lost many beloved lions that year, and yet the actual numbers is really small when compared to what the Mapogo did.

Makhulu is my all-time favorite lion, if not for him and the Mapogo, I might not be following lions nearly as closely as I do today. But, after reading about them, so much, I believe you nailed it when you said it is a very complex relationship. On the one hand we respect the Mapogo as warriors, never showing any fear, but on the other hand the results of their ferociousness can be devastating to think about. The thought of any lion coming in and wiping out all of the current Kambula cubs, or the Birmingham cubs is difficult enough for all of us to consider. Just imagine if it was Shaka or Eorenji who killed them, and the effect that would have on everyone.

Regardless of our thoughts on the methods that may have been used back then (we should never hold those of the past accountable to the standards or thinking of today), I have a lot of respect for Mr. Botha, he is someone I would love to just sit down with, and talk to. For all he has witnessed and been a part of, he was right in the middle of one of the biggest moments of lion history we will ever know about. If not for that moment, I do not know if so many would follow them so closely today, for sure it is doubtful that I would be. They have opened a world to me that remains filled with so much mystery, so many unknowns, and I will forever be appreciative for that. Reply