Lions of Sabi Sands

[Vengeous]

(6 hours ago)Tr1x24 Wrote:

(Today, 03:01 AM)Mapokser Wrote: Lisa Antell's account of a sighting she had at Londolozi, September of last year, a strange interaction between Tsalala and her then 3 cubs with the smaller PCM:

Tsalala and her cubs with a Plains Camp male on Tavangumi Koppies in a fascinating and puzzling interaction.

Last September 12 2024 we came upon the lions resting at the base of the Koppies. As we pulled into the sighting Tsalala was urging the 3 cubs away and up into the craggy rocky koppies, putting herself defensively between them and the big PCM behind her.

12 September? Good to know.

1-2 weeks later, this is him with those same cubs:

*This image is copyright of its original author

That sighting was 1st encounter between him and cubs, so obviously Tsalala was careful and alert.

Yeah this account doesn't explain much, unfortunately. 

We know the 3 cubs were lost in quick succession, despite the smaller PCM being seen in close proximity to them on a number of occasions. Of course, I want to qualify that lions don't always behave as "logically" as humans do, and there's a danger to ascribing human-like qualities to nature, which works in many ways far beyond our understanding. We don't actually have any evidence of the cubs being killed by the smaller PCM either. But let's assume he did - I have a theory as to why it happened.

We know that the southern Avoca male and the Kruger male were chased away by the 2 PCMs, shortly after the duo had chased Makhunga (bigger PCM). We know that Tsalala was seen with injuries, and when her first cub was lost, many people suggested the Southern Avoca and the kruger male as culprits. Then within a couple of days, the other 2 cubs disappeared. The cubs were basically lost within a week, not over the course of a few weeks, which this account suggests.

I think the Southern Avoca and the Kruger male did kill the first cub. Tsalala was seen with her other 2 cubs afterwards. What I think happened was when the PCMs encountered Tsalala and her 2 cubs in the aftermath of chasing the Kruger Male and Souther Avoca, they found 2 cubs still alive. Now, maybe they found it odd that rival males left 2 cubs alive despite outnumbering Tsalala. perhaps they felt then that those 2 cubs weren't theirs and belonged to the other coalition instead, which is why the 2 cubs were spared. Having assumed this, one of them proceeded to kill both cubs (or both of them, who knows). Now this is behaviour that hasn't really been documented, and we don't know anything for sure and this certainly isn't fact. But I do feel it might be a reasonable explanation for why the 2 cubs were killed out of nowhere despite interacting with both PCMs on multiple occasions (and alone with the smaller PCM too), before disappearing rapidly after their first sibling was killed.

Alternative explanations could be that the Ximungwe pride was involved (they were seen in the Tavangumi Koppies soon after), or, they could have been killed by hyenas or leopards. We'll never know for sure. Reply