The Mantimahle Males

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The Mantimahle male lions - A paragon of how to conquer and rule in the lion world 

There are only few things in the animal world that suit as a better compliment than being declared to be around for a perceived eternity. Animal dynamics are generally fast shifting. What appears stable today, can already look different tomorrow. A typical side effect when death turns out to be your only constant companion in the bush.

However this doesn’t seem to hold true for the five Mantimahle male lions who over the last years have managed to become an inherent part and thus a constant of the Kruger National Park. Drive a certain area and it’s almost guaranteed that you stumble across members of this outstanding coalition of male lions. Born 2010 into the Mazithi pride these males got their name from the Mantimahle Dam where they took over their first pride in 2015. By the time they invaded Sabi Sands, more precisely the southern section around Kirkmans Kamp and Lion Sands in 2016, they were rumored to have killed around 35 lions in total. While the majority of this number relies on assumptions there are indeed confirmed confrontations that ended with the death for other males, such as was it the case with one the Toulon males in early 2016 and one of the Sparta males shortly after in December 2016. After having taken over the Plains Camp pride earlier and having ousted the remaining Toulon male they then consequently added the Sand River pride under their control which at the same time marked the end of their voyage of conquest in the Sabi Sands that never really went beyond the southern parts. Instead they made a complete turnaround and extended their territory along the H 4-1 in whose process they managed to take over the Nkhulu pride, currently one of the biggest prides in the Kruger National Park. With their territory now ranging from Skukuza along the H 1-2 crossing the Rhino Post Safari Lodge to the H 4-1 towards Lower Sabie till down to the S21 where they recently began to take over another pride after having abandoned the Sand River pride few months earlier, the five brothers control one of the biggest areas in the Park. An achievement that came to fruition, the reward is a decent amount of sub adult offspring verifiable within the Sand River pride, the Plains Camp pride and the Nkhulu pride. Although it remains to be seen how the arrival of the southern Avoca males will affect the Sand River subs who seem to have dispersed since the new males took over the abandoned pride. 

With now approximately 10 years of age the Mantimahle males are slowly but steady reaching their autumn years. While they don’t look as impressive, healthy and clean anymore as they once used to it’s yet their very same battered appearances that indicate why they’re ahead of the competition: Only very few coalitions manage to keep every single member alive for such a long period of time, and it‘s just a few months ago since they last gave proof of their survival skills when they beat up the two intruding S29 males - who are possibly two of the dispersed Muntshe males, a more precise dossier addressing these males in an upcoming collaboration with Big On Wild - Wildlife Blog & Photography - leaving one of them with (what it looks like) a permanent spine injury. 

Given that this accomplishment requires more than just pure luck, the chances are good that these five persistent males will be around for a bit longer. Even tho it feels like they are already around for a small eternity. 

5th Mantimahle 

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Boss Mantimahle

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Three Tooth Mantimahle

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Dark Mane Mantimahle 

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Blonde/4th Mantimahle

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