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People have asked what happened to the Mohlabetsi male and his sons after the Machaton males drove them out of Balule in August 2017. It should be noted that there was an unrealted male in the coalition 'Blondie' who died during the takeover. No one seems to know what happened to the Mohlabetsi male, though like his brother Duma he probably perished from the ravages of being a lone nomad. However, a couple of different commentators (not rangers or guides) have stated that the 6 Maseke males seen around Chacma Bush Camp and Mopaya Lodge (Maseke reserve is adjacent north of Balule) are in fact the Mohlabetsi males. I'm just putting this idea out there as the timeline of the Maseke males appearance at Chacma fits nicely with the exodus of the Mohlabetsi sons from Blaule.
Edit: The picture is of one of the mohlabetsi males(2017) and of one of the maseke males(2019) at chacma bush camp. The whiskers pattern is very similar.
04-07-2020, 10:01 AM( This post was last modified: 04-07-2020, 10:05 AM by Cunaguaro )
Three beautiful lions of "Mjejane" coalition. Photo taken by Rheinhard one of our senior guides. Recent photo. Published 06-04-2020. Lukimbi Safari Lodge.
(04-07-2020, 06:47 AM)sik94 Wrote: People have asked what happened to the Mohlabetsi male and his sons after the Machaton males drove them out of Balule in August 2017. It should be noted that there was an unrealted male in the coalition 'Blondie' who died during the takeover. No one seems to know what happened to the Mohlabetsi male, though like his brother Duma he probably perished from the ravages of being a lone nomad. However, a couple of different commentators (not rangers or guides) have stated that the 6 Maseke males seen around Chacma Bush Camp and Mopaya Lodge (Maseke reserve is adjacent north of Balule) are in fact the Mohlabetsi males. I'm just putting this idea out there as the timeline of the Maseke males appearance at Chacma fits nicely with the exodus of the Mohlabetsi sons from Blaule.
Edit: The picture is of one of the mohlabetsi males(2017) and of one of the maseke males(2019) at chacma bush camp. The whiskers pattern is very similar.
Well they might be, as Mohlabetsi males where last seen going north after arrival of Machaton males. So they are somewhere north of Balule, the Maseke males where introducent in Maseke Game reserve in December 2017,but they stated that they where here for few months, so timelines matches.
But their numbers dont match, by the arrival of Machaton males, there where 6 Mohlabetsi males in coalition (father, unrelated young male Blondie and 4 sons, originaly there where 6 sons, but idk what happened to 2 of them). Then Blondie was killed by Machatons, so that means 5 of the Mohlabetsis ( father and 4 sons) where still alive and where going north.
During this month 64 sightings of lions were recorded on the Nwanetsi Concession.
A single Kumana male was seen on six occasions around the lodges. It is presumed that he is the sole survivor of the Kumana Coalition.
The Shishangaan Pride and five cubs were seen on nine occasions close to the lodge. All the cubs seem healthy, but with the Kumana Coalition deteriorating it is uncertain if all of the cubs will reach adulthood, as young cubs are often killed during a pride take-over, and with the fathers not being around to protect their offspring, the future of the Shishangaan Pride is uncertain.
The Shishangaan Males were seen on 17 occasions, and as usual the male with the injured hip was spending most of his time by himself or in the presence of the Mountain Pride. The younger brothers were found feeding on a buffalo that had died of natural causes, and with extremely full bellies they seemed very content for several days.
The Mountain Pride and their two younger cubs are still doing well.
During this month 64 sightings of lions were recorded on the Nwanetsi Concession.
A single Kumana male was seen on six occasions around the lodges. It is presumed that he is the sole survivor of the Kumana Coalition.
The Shishangaan Pride and five cubs were seen on nine occasions close to the lodge. All the cubs seem healthy, but with the Kumana Coalition deteriorating it is uncertain if all of the cubs will reach adulthood, as young cubs are often killed during a pride take-over, and with the fathers not being around to protect their offspring, the future of the Shishangaan Pride is uncertain.
The Shishangaan Males were seen on 17 occasions, and as usual the male with the injured hip was spending most of his time by himself or in the presence of the Mountain Pride. The younger brothers were found feeding on a buffalo that had died of natural causes, and with extremely full bellies they seemed very content for several days.
The Mountain Pride and their two younger cubs are still doing well.
Sad news that only 1 Kumana/Skukuza male is still alive
This was them in young days :
*This image is copyright of its original author
They where 4 brothers, born in Skukuza/Hildas Rock pride in early 2010, im 2013 they got ousted by Sand River males and start theirs nomadic life.
They moved north and ended in Mluwati Concession in late 2014, they where resident males there for 1 year, when in late 2015, 2 big males came and manage to catch alone and kill 1 of them, those 2 males later be known as Mluwati males Madala and Blondie.
That lose prob shock the Skukuza brothers, so soon after they left that area and moved further northeast towards Kumana dam, from there they got their second name, 3 Kumana males.
In 2019 they moved further north in Satara/Singita area and after some time they even manage to overtake Shishangaan pride from 3 powerful Shishangaan males.
(04-07-2020, 09:40 PM)Matimbalani Wrote: Wasn't Mohlabetsi evicted along with his sons? I don't recall seeing anything about them separating.
Yes, he was with them from the last reports.
He was a good looking lion as was his brother. Though I don't know why he split from his coalition partner (not sure if he abandoned his brother, or his brother abandoned him.)
(04-07-2020, 06:47 AM)sik94 Wrote: People have asked what happened to the Mohlabetsi male and his sons after the Machaton males drove them out of Balule in August 2017. It should be noted that there was an unrealted male in the coalition 'Blondie' who died during the takeover. No one seems to know what happened to the Mohlabetsi male, though like his brother Duma he probably perished from the ravages of being a lone nomad. However, a couple of different commentators (not rangers or guides) have stated that the 6 Maseke males seen around Chacma Bush Camp and Mopaya Lodge (Maseke reserve is adjacent north of Balule) are in fact the Mohlabetsi males. I'm just putting this idea out there as the timeline of the Maseke males appearance at Chacma fits nicely with the exodus of the Mohlabetsi sons from Blaule.
Edit: The picture is of one of the mohlabetsi males(2017) and of one of the maseke males(2019) at chacma bush camp. The whiskers pattern is very similar.ell they might be, as Mohlabetsi males where last seen going north after arrival of Machaton males. So they are somewhere north of Balule, the Maseke males where introducent in Maseke Game reserve in December 2017,but they stated that they where here for few months, so timelines matches.
But their numbers dont match, by the arrival of Machaton males, there where 6 Mohlabetsi males in coalition (father, unrelated young male Blondie and 4 sons, originaly there where 6 sons, but idk what happened to 2 of them). Then Blondie was killed by Machatons, so that means 5 of the Mohlabetsis ( father and 4 sons) where still alive and where going north.
Maybe somebody has more insight on this.
Well out of the 8, blondie was killed by the Machatons. There were 4 quite young males in the coalition, probably under 3 years old the youngest 2. The old Mohlabetsi male was probably older than 10 as well, tbh they did good to make it and become dominant without splintering into a much smaller coalition. Although I also have my doubts as to if these really are the Mohlabetsis but the numbers not exactly matching doesn't make any difference in my opinion.
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(12-07-2019, 12:37 AM)Tr1x24 Wrote: Sighting of 3 males on H4-1 in the half a way between Skukuza and Lower Sabi, they call them mammoth males (i never heard of this males tbh), this male must be one of the biggest in whole Kruger, holy moly he is massive:
Coalitions of Kruger National Park
