Lions of Timbavati

[Potato]

Tanda Tula update

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So, where do we begin with this week’s round up?  I guess it would have to be with the lion cubs!  After Steven found them last week, the Sark Breakaway lioness kept the cubs just from our access road for a couple more days.  A second lioness has also got a litter of three cubs in the vicinity, but we have yet to see them ourselves.  I was lucky enough to get a chance to view the 7–8-week-old cubs late one afternoon, but as it was just off our access road, there was a bit more traffic than I would have liked – fortunately, the mother lion could have cared less!  Fortunately, the next morning she had rejoined with the other members of the Sark Breakaways, and brought the cubs deeper into our concession.  I made my way there in a dense mist, and man, was it worth the trip!  It was a treat to watch the tiny cubs interacting with their much larger pride members, and seeing how the poor mom was having to step in to make sure that the older cousins didn’t get too rough with the cubs!  The next day, the lioness had again returned the cubs to a den site under our main access road – clearly an area where she feels very safe.  As for the Sark Breakaways, they started the week by pitching up in the heart of Giraffe Pride territory; we suspect they may have been trailing the same buffalo herd as the Giraffe Pride, and heard the latter in the process of killing a buffalo – despite having more members, without the Hercules male present, the Sark Breakaways with one Vuyela male seemingly easily displaced the larger pride and stole their meal.  After a couple of days of feeding, the pride moved back west.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

We also saw 16 members of the Giraffe Pride resting about 1km from their buffalo kill, with a couple of light scratches, but nothing serious.  One young male got trapped at the buffalo kill, but amazingly despite odds of 8-to-1, the Sark Breakaways didn’t push home their numerical advantage and let the young male walk away (three other members had been seen further west that morning, bringing their total to a complete count of 20).  The River Pride spent most of the week to the north of our concession after seemingly more hunting success.  We did see more of the pride (along with four Vuyela males) during the second half of the week, tracking them down on four occasions at the end of the week as they returned to their central territory.  With the four males hanging out with the pride, we heard the least roaring we have for some time now – we only had them roaring close to camp on a couple of occasions, otherwise all the roars we heard were some distance off.  The week ended with three Mayambula lionesses joining a single Birmingham Breakaway male in the south-eastern corner.  I didn’t venture south to see them, but it sounds like these lions had been in a scrap with one another.

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