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June 7, 2017 from Londolozi:
Three mornings ago we bumped into the non-injured Matshipiri male and followed him for 100 metres through the chilly dawn until he lay down in a clearing, looking about him. His face bore many cuts and gashes, and on his spine was a fresh puncture wound, with a thin trickle of blood running from it down his flank. Ranger John Mohaud was joining us in the sighting, and we could see his vehicle approaching, when suddenly his urgent voice came over the radio “There are two more males here approaching rapidly!” Looking towards John’s Land Rover, we suddenly saw the shape of a young male lion emerge from the bushes, and then a second, both moving quickly with heads down, clearly on the scent trail of the Matshipiri male.  *This image is copyright of its original author His face scarred up, the Matshipiri male who was chased lies down only moments before the two Avoca males burst out of the bushes in the background in pursuit. Photograph by Vedant Thite  *This image is copyright of its original author Moving at a trot, one of the Avoca coalition glances towards our vehicle while in pursuit of the Matshipiri male. Photograph by Vedant Thite  *This image is copyright of its original author One of the Avoca males scent-marks while he roars, a sure sign of territorial intent. Photograph by Vedant Thite Ranger Greg Pingo, returning late from drive, had more news. During the early parts of the chase that morning, the Avoca and Matshipiri males had run past a big waterhole not too far from the airstrip. What no one had noticed however, being so fixated on the running lions, was that right next to the waterhole, lying in one of the inlets, was the other Matshipiri male, the one with the broken leg. He must have been there for two days, since the Ntsevu lionesses had killed a young giraffe close by and he had joined them to feed on it. With that having been his only decent meal in goodness-knows how long, he was in a badly emaciated condition, and in no condition to get in a fight with rival males. No wonder he kept quiet as his brother ran by. This was by no means the end of the story though. Realising that there was a good chance that the Avoca males might find the injured Matshipiri male that evening, Greg and Alistair Smith returned to sit with the younger coalition after dinner. The two lions got up and began retracing their steps, and as expected, it wasn’t long before they caught the scent of the injured Matshipiri male, and had found him within a few minutes. Needless to say, Greg and Alistair expected fireworks, but nothing like that happened. Instead of rushing in to finish him off, the Avoca males simply circled him at a distance, scent marking every bush and tree, but doing nothing to initiate a physical conflict. The Matshipiri male, injured and helpless, simply lay there growling. Unable to run off or rush in to attack, he simply had to await his fate. Interestingly, the two young males, after scent-marking, simply walked away. Why would two male lions, apparently intent on taking over the territory, leave their seemingly defenceless victim alone? Is it a case of not kicking a man when he’s down? Did the fact that the Matshipiri male no longer represented a threat to them meant that they weren’t interested anymore? As I understand it from Greg and Al, the injured male had his vulnerable rear end backed up into a bush, meaning the Avoca males could only attack his front, which could still have been very dangerous for them. The risk of attacking an already severely injured foe would not have been worth it. Just how down-and-out the Avoca males could sense the Matshipiri male to be no one can say for sure, but I imagine they would have had a fair idea from his emaciated condition. Also, with him not being able to run, the chase response would not have been triggered in the antagonists, so they contented themselves with merely scent-marking, establishing their dominance in front of him, then roaring as they moved off. With lions it is sometimes simply a numbers game; without his brother, the uninjured Matshipiri would have felt far more vulnerable, and his instinctive flight (on a number of occasions buy now) would trigger an automatic chase response in the Avoca young males. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had the Avoca males arrived two months ago, before one of the Matshipiris broke his leg. As a pair of larger male lions, I don’t think the Matshipiri males would have had much trouble in dealing with this new threat. This is a moot point though, since what has happened has happened, and the Matshipiri coalition seems to be losing their hold, although nothing has been concluded.  *This image is copyright of its original author The healthier of the two Matshipiri males, bellowing on the morning that he first encountered the two Avoca young males.  *This image is copyright of its original author The sparse manes on the young Avoca males are clearly indicative of their youth. It is quite possible that these young Avoca males, if they do succeed in either killing or driving off the Matshipiri pair, may well be ousted in the not-too-distant future by an older and bigger coalition that wanders in from the Kruger Park. Three of the massive Birmingham males were seen in our northern areas yesterday morning, and the rumours of the Mantimahle males continue to loom from the south. I imagine that we’re in for some interesting times, which most likely doesn’t bode well for any cubs currently on Londolozi. Fi |
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