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Potato · 08-28-2019, 10:08 PM

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It all started off very slowly as we started seeing these two young males more and more regularly from about two years back, they have been pushing in from our north eastern corner and never really showed any interest in going further west. Then one day, about 4 months ago, early one morning, we found the two Fourways males busy finishing off an impala kill deep into the Sand River males’ territory, not looking bothered at all. Ever since that day they have been walking all over the place scent marking and calling, this meant the females all ran for their lives as these were new males to them that they have never seen before and with the reputation of the Mapogo’s who killed almost 60% of the lion population in the Sabi Sands, you can never be too careful.

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With them all chuffed with their new territory and trying to explore all the new places, they gave us Rangers and Trackers a nice run around every day to try and find them as they were covering vast distances in a short period of time.

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It all started settling down a bit and the six Southern Pride females were found closer and closer to the males. The one morning, all excited to see what happened during the course of the night, we went out and found tracks of two males chasing females around. Continuing our search we found the males on a Nyala kill which they probably stole from the six females as their tracks came straight from there.
This probably didn’t make things easier for the females, so they moved far south into our property where the Fourways males have not been and the three Sand River males were still hanging around.

Days went past where the males stayed north and the females stayed south. The females were very successful with hunts down the south and their body condition picked up very quickly.
The two Fourways males eventually built up enough courage to go explore the southern part of our reserve that borders the Sabie River. They picked up fresh scent of the females and were on a mission again trying to find them but with all the vocalising the females made a run for it and have been sitting somewhere in the Kruger National Park. That evening I saw the Fourways males chasing one Sand River male far east.

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Weeks went past without seeing the six females and the Sand River males. Eventually one morning we found one Southern Pride female with the Fourways males showing lots of interest in mating with them, but she was still giving the two males a lot of space as they had to fight it out to see who will be the dominant male to mate with her and that night it started with the younger male mating first for a few days and then splitting up again for a few days then found the bigger male mating with her. Everyone is super exited as this means the Southern Pride might start building the pride again with two stable males here who are in great condition and looks to stay here for a long time.
But then one morning we were woken up by what sounded like two males calling in front of Bush Lodge. Kosie and I went out and found the two Charleston males running around calling and scent marking all over the area where the Fourways males were the night before so we started looking for the Fourways guys but couldn’t find them. They made a run for it all the way down south

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Now this was the deepest we have ever seen the Charleston males into our property. Are they here to stay or were they just here because of their aunt that had her cubs here for a while and tried to protect her and her cubs from them. With all this happening the one Sand River male was spotted moving very fast north and a few days later back south again. Is he looking for his brothers to try and claim what is theirs or are they just going to move on and look for a different territory?
Now ending it off on a good note… The Fourways males were found mating with a different Southern Pride female, meaning we could maybe expect new members in the pride in about 110 days! Just hope the Fourways males keep their heads up and confidence high.

6 August 2015
As we all know the bush is a magical and unpredictable place. You never know what you are going to find or see and that is the beauty of the game. We might have less or irregular sightings of one animal and then suddenly a couple of days later a massive influx of the same species. That is exatly what happened on the lion front. With the Fourways males being more or less based in the southern part of the property, mating with one of the Southern Pride females and being acompanied by another female, we had sightings of other lions we don’t get to see on a regular basis.

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This included seeing the Charleston female’s cubs for the first time as well as having the two Charleston boys coming onto our property, roaring and scent marking constantly. This was enough to send one of the Sand River males running for the hills. Other lions spotted included three of the Ximungwes as well as two of the young Sparta males.

3 September 2015
The news of the week though has to revolve around the Southern Pride. We have been seeing various females with the either of the two Fourways males on a regular basis for the last several weeks now and it seems that final, the females have accepted the males as resident in the area. We encountered them late in the week all together and behavior exhibited by the females toward the males was very encouraging. There was a lot of physical contact and head rubbing/nuzzling performed by the females, which indicates an acceptance. It was really nice to see and hopefully they will now experience some stability in the area. It must be said though, that the take-over is not complete until there are cubs being born, but for the moment it is all systems go and it shouldn’t be too long before the females start to show signs of pregnancy. Let’s hold thumbs for them.

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1 October 2015
It’s been more than a year now since we last saw Solo and the Kruger male lion on Sabi Sabi. They have joined forces and have been seen in the Kruger National Park for a while, and with the two Fourways males spending a lot of time roaring in our most southern part of the reserve, we would never have thought to see these two older boys up here again. A few days back the Fourways males were found pretty bruised and the orange-eyed male being worse off. The two males then split up and the orange-eyed male was not seen for a few days while the bigger blond male was mating with one of the Southern Pride females. Normally when they are separated from each other for a few days they would call and reunite but not this time, our minds started running off in different directions as everyone had a different opinion on what had happened to the orange-eyed male.

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But then on the morning of 25/09/2015 the call came through on the radio that there was a lot of vulture activity in the southern part of the reserve. Following up there we found three male lions and four females on a fresh buffalo carcass. Not being in the sighting yet thoughts of who they might be started going through my mind. Eventually I got into the sighting and I could not believe what I was seeing! A Fourways male feeding with one of the Southern Pride females and Solo and the Kruger male lying 30 meters away sleeping. Not showing any signs of aggression towards each other and the one female even mating with the Kruger male.

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Could the orange-eyed Fourways male have been with Solo and the Kruger male the whole time or did they just join up as some predators do when they are really hungry and after feeding they would sometimes attack? But no, after 2 days the buffalo was finished and the males all went in separate directions.

Great news for us as Solo and the Kruger male are a lot bigger than the Fourways males and could possibly kill one of them – meaning the chances of the cubs that might still be coming would most likely not survive.

After a few days there was no sign of Solo and the Kruger male and the Fourways males continued as normal, mating with Floppy Ear and the one young female.
Until Tuesday morning, one of the Rangers found Solo and the Kruger male on the far northern part of our reserve looking in good condition and moving unfazed through the area. Are they pushing back their old territory now that the three Sand River males are almost unheard of? I cannot wait for the next few weeks to find out in which way they will surprise us again…

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8 October 2015
We will start this week with the Southern Pride and the Fourways males. The Southern Pride had been trailing a herd of buffalo and managed to pull one down during the night. This provided the pride with a large meal and was a great addition to the buffalo they managed to pull down last week. The pride seems to be thriving together again and if they continue their effective hunting, Floppy Ear and the rest of the females can rebuild the pride to its former glory.
With the above being said, there needs to be a strong coalition to make this happen and the Fourways males seem to be providing stability for the females, but still have a long way to go to prove themselves. This will be tested if and when they give birth to a new litter. The Fourways males have been enjoying their new found territory and with the heat, stopping by at a favourite waterhole for a quiet drink and to admire the sunset.

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22 October 2015

The sightings this week have been incredible as always with the Southern Pride and Fourways males being successful with numerous kills

With us having some nice overcast mornings and cooler days this week, everyone as well as the animals had a break from the intense heat the week before. It has been a very good week for lions as we had the Fourways males as well as four of the Southern Pride females for the whole week. After looking quite hungry, the two males were successful in bringing down a big buffalo cow and were joined the next day by four of the Southern Pride females. This, like always at a kill, allowed for some nice interaction between these cats. Only a couple of days later two younger buffalo were brought down by the pride not too far apart. Two of the females were absent and Floppy Ear was one of them. Solo was also spotted on his own before following his nomadic nature and moving off. This raised the question – where is the Kruger male (Freddy), as there was an altercation between Solo, the Kruger male and the two Charleston males on a different property a couple of days ago.

29 October 2015
This is one quote that the lions of Sabi Sabi should live with as they might be going through a difficult time for the next few months.

Pressure has been coming from the two Charleston males the last week as we had them all the way in the southern part of our property. This is not good for the Fourways males as these guys are full of confidence and even bigger in size than them. The two Charleston boys have already proven themselves by taking on the Kruger male and Solo and it ended with the Kruger male losing his life after the battle.

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The reason why I am saying they are going to go through a difficult time is because the Fourways males have mated with all the Southern Pride females and it might even be that one or two of the females might have already started looking for den sites, so if the two Fourways males don’t step up and challenge the Charleston boys, they could take over this area and the pride and kill all the new cubs that could be on their way.

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With all that still in mind it has been great seeing the Fourways males spending a lot of time with the Southern Pride females and enjoying each other’s company. The bond between these guys have been formed now and we just hope that it stays that way.

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12 November 2015
We started off the week with the Southern Pride missing yet another member. Rangers speculated her whereabouts with rumours of birthing cubs, death or what we all most dread, abandonment in the midst of another territorial take over.
The significant presence of the Charleston males over the last two weeks revealed, the female’s disappearance was more associated with the latter as, much to our horror, the Charlestons were found harbouring the missing female. This was later in the week overshadowed by the discovery of the one Charleston male in the presence of all five females! Although no mating has been witnessed, and the females have been far from welcoming, the Charleston showed no indications of cowardice when resting for the day less than 2km from the Fourways males. When both male coalitions finally met, it was indeed the Fourways who spared no second thought to running. Only time will tell if the Charlestons are on the brink of a new take-over, but with at least one of the Southern Pride females showing signs of being pregnant with the offspring of the Fourways males, it will certainly have disastrous repercussions for the future of the cubs. We wait with baited breathes!

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26 November 2015
The lion dynamics have kept us all on our toes in recent weeks, but this has become the norm when it comes to the Southern Pride. The females have been seen in the company of the Charleston males again and to date there has been little to no sign of the two Fourways males. Just when it looked as though the females were settling down and the Fourways males were looking comfortable, a very large spanner in the form of the Charleston males appeared. Now it must be said that the Charleston’s have had every opportunity to make an entrance since the demise of the Sand River males, but they had been very ‘quiet’ until very recently. The competition must’ve spurred them on… In any event, if either of these coalitions were to be successful in establishing themselves as the dominant force in the area, it would be great for the Southern Pride. I guess we are just going to have to wait a little bit longer than expected for the arrival of some cubs.

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Summary of past year
The two Fourways males have been doing so well in taking over the Southern Pride, they even showed how good they can be for the pride in killing buffalo almost every week. It really was great to see the females enjoying the presence of the two males.
Their confidence grew day by day and it was almost a definite that they were going to father the new cubs, they eventually got to mate with all the females which meant the females were supposed to have cubs in about 110 days, but after a month or two most of the females were not showing any signs of being pregnant and some did. Were some of the females nervous and went into a false oestrus making the males believe that they were ready to mate with?! Looks like some of the females were waiting to make sure that the two males were there to stay and capable of protecting the territory and cubs, luckily so because it wasn’t long before we heard the distinct call of two males coming from the far east – this could only be the two Charleston males.

Days went by where we didn’t see the two Fourways males and then we found them one morning both with bad scars on their back legs and one male with a bad bite mark on his spine. Could it be that they had a run in with the Charleston males for the first time and were lucky to escape? “Only time will tell”.

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Again weeks went by and no sign of the Charleston males, they probably were not ready yet to come in for a takeover and felt responsible to look after their aunt and their two cousins who only turned a few months old the other day.

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As the days progressed we were shocked one morning when we came across a sighting which blew everyone’s minds, it was the Kruger male, Solo, orange-eyed Fourways male and a few of the Southern Pride females all on a buffalo carcass.
Could it have been that Solo and the Kruger male didn’t see the Fourways male as a threat and let him be? The other Fourways male was still mating with one of the Southern Pride females and maybe had no clue what his partner was up to. The next day everything was back to normal again – the two Fourways males were back together and Solo and the Kruger male went far north to boundaries they have never been in together before. It wasn’t long before Solo came back alone and we received the worst possible news that Solo and the Kruger male had a run in with the Charleston males and the Kruger male came off second best. With the passing of the Kruger male, Solo made his way back south into the Kruger National Park calling every now and then hoping that the Kruger male was still around. The only thing Solo found was the one young Sparta male who had no interest in getting close to Solo – maybe Solo’s sheer body size scared him and maybe Solo is already looking for a new mate.
With the Charleston males full of confidence after they killed the Kruger male, the time seemed right for them to push west and south into the heart of the Fourways males’ territory. They came in with a bang, scent marking from the word go. The Charleston’s were first seen with the one older female in the pride which caused tension between the two brothers already. The dark maned male decided to let his brother be and went back east as there was no sign of the Fourways males anywhere. Eventually one morning we were tracking the Charleston male and Southern Pride female, and when we eventually found them, we came across all five females and one Charleston male with the two Fourways males not too far away. The bigger of the Fourways males looked like he was stalking the Charleston male and got to about 40 meters from him when all of a sudden the females and the Charleston had a bit of a rumble which sent the Fourways male running for the hills. That was the one opportunity the Fourways males had to take on the Charleston male as his brother was a long way away from them, instead they took the easy road out and ran! This was a clear sign that they are not fit for these females and that the Charleston males are the right males for them and that they would stand their ground against anyone.

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Since that encounter we have not seen the Fourways males for at least 11 days now. Was this the final take over from the Charleston males? Let’s see what happens in the coming weeks…

7 Januarny 2016
The lion dynamics have kept us on the edge of seats as always, especially with the surprise of some of our team having found a Southern Pride female with two cubs! I can’t say that we were surprised that they were going to produce them at some stage, since they were mating profusely with the Fourways males before the Charleston males decided to ‘stir the pot’ so to speak, but to have them born now is quite exciting and also quite worrying. It is not known if the cubs are still alive and we are not sure who the biological fathers are. It could be either of the two coalitions. One thing is almost certain and that is if the cubs are Fourways’ offspring, they will most likely be dispatched of by the Charlestons. This is unfortunately the way of the African Bush and there is nothing we can do about it, as hard of a pill as it is to swallow.
The Charlestons continue to assert their dominance over the area and the Southern Pride, with the larger Charleston brother not having left their side until two days ago. I personally have not seen him mate with any females and only seen them resist his advances, so we are back to square one where the females are going to test the will, strength and stamina of the two large males. I was sorry to see the Fourways males chased off so easily, but in all honesty, the Charlestons would make amazing pride males. They are very big, they’re strong and they’re full of confidence. Historically, we never had the chance to spend too much time with them, only seeing them every now and then, but watching them grow from young lions to the dominant force they are today has been truly exceptional. I hope to see them dominate the area for years to come.

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