Lions of Timbavati

[Potato]

Tanda Tula update

The lions were not far behind in terms of their cooperation, and we were again blessed with daily sightings of our resident prides.  The River Pride spent a good part of the week within the area, and the pale lioness even brought her two cubs onto the Tanda Tula property for a couple of days before moving them slightly north again.  Considering their tiny size, she was moving them over quite some distance, and I wondered if this was perhaps down to her inexperience as a mother?

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Regardless of their movements, the two are looking in great shape and probably enjoying exploring more than the banks of the Macahton riverbed!  We are still waiting on our first glimpse of the other litter of cubs, but it cannot be long before they all join up.  The Sark Breakaways were moving to and fro across our boundary with the Klaserie, but we enjoyed several sightings of the majority of the pride.  We bumped into them one afternoon as 11 members made their way towards Impala Dam.  I rushed around to tell a colleague that the lions were coming, and that he should abandon his sundowner before they arrived.  A minute later they strolled up to the water to drink, but the drinks table that remained sitting on the dam wall became too tempting for the young lions not to go and investigate, and soon the pride gathered around the table trying to figure our whether to go for a Chenin Blanc or a Chardonnay!  Eventually one young male simply grabbed a cooler box and ran off into the bush with it before realising that it was not as tasty as it smelt!  The next day they found something more substantial and seven members of the pride managed to catch a zebra in the late afternoon that kept them feeding in the area for 24 hours.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Three members of the Mayambula Pride were also seen in the east, but they didn’t get up to much – there was evidence of them having caught a young buffalo at the end of the week, but their tracks headed straight back south, and off of the concession.  The Giraffe Pride were reported in the west on a few occasions, but with good lions close to Tanda Tula, we didn’t need to travel far to see them. Reply