Mangheni Pride

[Duco Ndona]

If it was due to moving around a lot, we would expect most of the death to occur in the first months of the cubs life due to exposure and exhaustion, while most make it to an older age and die in conflicts. All prides travel large distances anyway so I doubt that is the issue.

There typically are cycles in these things. Males take over, mate and are territorial, before eventually being ousted or moving on themselves. This typically lasts around two to three years, which aligns itself with the prides cycle of entering estrus, giving birth and raising the next generation of lions. Sometimes males are removed before this time, but then the cubs are killed by the next males, which realignes the cycles again.

In the Mangheni case, they had some incredible bad luck if it comes to pride males. Which either abandoned them, got defeaten in a take over or otherwise died too soo.
Each time, he cubs never died in the process leaving the pride and territorial male cycles misaligned. So rather than profiting from the new territorial males from the start to the end of their average 3 year reign they avoid them for a few years to raise the current litter.
Which is extremely difficult in these conditions so rarely with success. 

By the time they are ready to mate. The males themselves are already either nearing the end of their reign, or have expanded in the west or north and found other for them more interesting prides.
Leaving the pride again in a bad position and the situation repeats itself.


Still, they are doing much better than the west, where both the Othawas and Ximhungwes experienced a near complete wipeout. Not to mention that if some of the female cubs make it, they will have plenty of young lionesses to be a force to be reckon with. 
With some luck, they then gain new territorial males in the right moment of their cyclus so the two cycles realign again and they can leave this bad era behind. Reply