Lions of Manyeleti

[MrLoesoe]

Mandevu patrolling and roaring. Well fed, bulky. Source: Tintswalo guide.

so if I try to explain the situation around this lion, I think he still feels dominant over Mbiris and around that mid-northern territory of Manyeleti. He was in KNP for a few months but he returned, possibly after his brother Ncile died. I've been thinking if the Orpen son is now somehow part of a potential Mandevu - Orpen son coalition, because we saw them together as well, but I don't think that is the case. Almost all footage we see of the young Orpen male is him with the pride and even the cub a lot of the times. Have not seen him roaring or scent marking at all (although he was seen mating with a lioness when the pride had no dominant males). 

At the same time we Mandevu with the pride but we also frequently see Mandevu alone and in this vid patrolling and roaring. Also it would be logical from Mandevu's point of view to see the Orpen son as part of the pride and not as a potential coalition partner; Orpen son was a cub when Tintswalo males ruled the pride last years. So they basically raised him. So to sum up, Mandevu is basically a solo coalition at this point, dominant over the Mbiri pride, with a (young) adult male that is taller than him, and that is definitely useful to him as we saw in the recent Mbiri - Nharu clash where he and Orpen son apparantly chased Red Road (and Mbiri cub died). But, ultimately, I would not expect this to be a sustainable situation. Either Orpen son gets ousted by a dominant Mandevu (for instance if he tries to mate when Mandevu is around) or the pride eventually may get pressure from the north by new males.

Reply