Lions of Timbavati

[Potato]

Tanda Tula update

It wasn’t just at the waterholes that there was action though!  Our drives delivered some great sightings throughout the week.  Our lions were strangely quiet this week, at least the large prides, and specifically the River Pride.  We saw almost no sign of them for the entire week, but late in the week it was discovered that they had been on a buffalo kill some distance north of our concession.  The Vuyela males remained quiet for most the week, at least from a roaring-point-of-view.  Their lack of roars however belies the other activies they got up to over the past two weeks.  There were reports of three Vuyela males way in the south of the reserve last weekend, but when they pitched up on our western traversing area, it was seen that it was not the Vuyelas, but the Birmingham Breakaway males.  Why were they so far south west of the Mayambula Pride?  That answer came the next day when we found a single Mayambula female mating with a Vuyela male in the heart of their territory.  It appears, at least on the surface, that the Vuyelas have taken over the Mayambua Pride!  This spells disaster for the new cubs, but could have some very positive long-term consequences, with the likely scenario being that the Mayambula pride start pushing deeper into our concession.  Time will tell how this plays out, but for now, it seems as though the Vuyela reign is growing.   

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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