Coalitions of Kruger National Park

[Fredymrt]

From: Singita Kruger National Park
wildlife report

Lions: The Lebombo Concession is well known for lion sightings and this month has been no exception. We have had over fifty recorded sightings of these large, tawny cats this month. Most of our sightings have been of the two portions of the Shish Pride. 

On the 4th of January Nick and Jani were watching the larger portion of the Shish Pride as they were walking through the grasslands near Gudzani North. They crossed the river and disappeared into the bush when Jani and Nick heard the death cries of a buffalo emanating from the direction that the lions had headed. They found a way to cross the river and when they located the lions again they found that they had just killed an adult female buffalo. The clouds had been building all afternoon and as soon as they found the lions feeding on the cow, the heavens opened up and the rain poured down upon them. The guests were really excited to see the lions feeding, but the lions themselves seemed quite miserable with all the water drenching them as they were feeding. Nick and Jani did not remain with the lions for long as the rain was really pelting down.


The larger portion of the Shish Pride were seen again, on Nuthlwa Rd, in the last week of the month. They were busy feeding on a zebra that they had killed during the night. While we were watching them a herd of elephants came walking towards them. When the grey giants saw the lions they immediately started chasing the cats around. It was great viewing! The cats all managed to evade the elephants and when the pachyderms had left the area the lions slowly started returning to the carcass.

Towards the middle of the month the smaller portion of the Shish Pride were found quite close to camp. The sub-adult male white lion was with the group. We watched them for a while and later on in the afternoon the lions headed south, out of the concession towards the Sweni Bird Hide. That night we could hear male lions roaring to the south of camp and then lots of growling and more roaring. The sounds carried on for quite a while and we realised that the Southern Males had obviously come across the Shish Pride and were fighting with them. The next morning, we found the white lion on his own. He had clearly been involved in the confrontation and had injuries all over his body. He was lucky to have escaped from the larger Southern Males. He looked quite miserable and sorry for himself. We saw the smaller portion of the Shish Pride later on in the month again and the white lion was back with the group. Unfortunately, it appeared that there were two lions missing from the pride and we wondered if they had not been killed in the dispute with the big males. A day or two after that day that we found the white lion on his own we found a lone, thin female on the H6 road. She had killed a wildebeest. Sadly for her, the hyenas had been alerted to the sounds of the dying wildebeest and were gathering all around her. Soon the jackals arrived as well and eventually with the advantage of numbers on their side the scavengers drove her away and took over the carcass.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The four Shish Males were seen on a few occasions this month. They have been moving much further west than normal and we presume that they are fighting with other males that have their territory there.

*This image is copyright of its original author

We have not had many sightings of the Mountain pride this month. We believe that they have been moving around the hills and in some of the steep-sided valleys. At the end of the first week of January they were seen feeding on a zebra with their three cubs. A week or two later the three lionesses were seen again in the hills near Xidulu Pan. This time there was only one cub. At the end of the month the lionesses were seen in the Central area. The females were alone.  We were quite concerned that they could have lost the last cub as well. However, right at the end of the month they were seen again, feeding on a wildebeest with the four Shish Males, and the cub was present and very fat!

We have only seen the Xhirombe Pride once in January and that was right at the end of the month. It made us very happy to see the Xhirombe Male as we have not seen him in a long time and we were even contemplating whether he had been killed by other males in the area (particularly when Nick found the remains of a blonde lion’s mane and skin below the Granophyre ridge in the area that we do sometimes see the Xhirombe Pride). These lions have obviously been hiding in the hills and valleys in the south of the concession (or even in Mozambique), where there are very few roads and access by vehicle is limited due to the steep cliffs and rocky areas. Since we did see the two females mating a few months ago, we were expecting them to have given birth to new cubs. However, right at the end of the month, when we saw these lions near the camp, and we were surprised to see that the females do not have swollen teats. It appears that they may have lost their cubs. Reply