Avoca male lions

[Gijima]

I think you’re reading way too much into that video. Mohawk is in no way showing dominance… he gave Dark Mane a friendly greeting and then they sat around together watching their brother with his girlfriend. 

- Dark Mane’s injury was a broken bone. How would his brothers break his bones? And there was no puncture wound or bite mark anywhere near his legs. Most likely a buffalo step on him or he landed funny on his foot during the hunt that was caught on film that night.
- The very next day he’s cuddling and rubbing heads with Mohawk and Blondie— no drama. 
- For the next month after his injury he is in Djuma and mates with that same lioness… so where is all this “dominance” and fear of his brothers? Not one time that month are any of the brothers even filmed snarling at each other. A very rare thing for any coalition with females around.
- He was last seen in Djuma with Blondie in Sept 2019, again taking a nap with him. That was his last interaction… completely peaceful as it’s always been. He didn’t go to the Talamaties because of a conflict. He always preferred them. Even after meeting the Torchwoods and mating when them, he left to be with the Talamatis
- DM was the first to mate with Nkuhumas. He was seen them way back in Feb 2019 when his brothers weren’t around. Blondie too was one of the first and Mohawk the last to mate with the Nkuhumas. 

Why are people confused about the interaction between Mohawk and DM recently? My theory is that people always underestimated Mohawk. Because he’s not as “impressive” (whatever that means) they think he’s last in line, or less dominant. That was never the case. It’s the same reason I guess no one talks about the lesser maned S Avocas, although he was at the forefront with his brother during their nomadic years.

Secondly, Dark Mane’s personality confuses people. They expect dark-maned lions to be aggressive and beating the lights out of everyone. That’s just not Dark Mane. He has the personality of many older, mature lions. They don’t hounds females or fight 24/7. They tend to be a lot more laid back because they are confident. A guide was recently explaining how many dark-maned lions (and males of other species with high testosterone) tend to be loners. They have the confidence not to be with other males 24/7. It’s a sign of confidence and dominance, where as young coalitions will stick together all the time because they lack confidence. Dark Mane doesn’t even stay with the Talamatis that much… he really does his own thing and people will always misunderstand that. 

^^ He clearly is not submissive, even to Mohawk. Reply